Polish Energy Company declares victory over Gazprom in gas price dispute at Arbitration Court
The Polish energy company PGNiG has announced it had received the final award from the Stockholm Arbitration Court in a dispute with Gazprom over the price of gas.
The Stockholm arbitration considered PGNiG’s arguments for a review of the contract price formula and confirmed that the gas price under the existing contract was overstated and failed to reflect the price level on the European energy market, the statement read. The court’s decision will affect deliveries from January 1, 2014, onwards.
“Gazprom has for many years been overcharging and will now be required to refund nearly USD 1.5 billion to PGNiG for gas supplied from November 1, 2014 to February 29, 2020,” the Polish energy company said in a statement.
After Poland’s PGNiG declares victory over Gazprom in gas price dispute, Russian Gazprom said that it had received the Stockholm arbitration ruling on March 13, 2020 and was analyzing it, RIA Novosti reported.
The Gazprom Export confirmed that the Russian gas giant was informed about the decision of the Stockholm arbitration. “We are currently studying this decision. It is too early to give any estimates of the amount of possible payments,” Gazprom Export said.
Experts note that spot gas prices in Europe, under the pressure of record gas balances in underground storage facilities after a very soft winter and growing supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG), fell to fuel prices in Russian home market. As a result, the gas supplied to the westernmost regions of Russia – Leningrad and Smolensk – is more expensive than hub gas prices in European market. At the end, it would lead to a paradoxical situation when Gazprom will benefit from selling gas inside Russia than exporting it to Europe.
