Naftogaz of Ukraine intends to recover $ 2.1 billion from Gazprom after arbitration won in Stockholm. Such volume of financial claims to Russia and Gazprom was designated by the head of the company, Andrey Kobolev, in an interview with the Economic Pravda newspaper.

Naftogaz of Ukraine considers as an asset Gazprom’s assets in Europe, in particular, the shares of companies that own Nord Stream 2, Nord Stream and Blue Stream.

According to Kobolev, Naftogaz also filed a lawsuit against Russia for “seizing” the company's assets in the Crimea in an amount exceeding $ 5 billion. In addition to this, in 2018 Naftogaz launched a new trial in which the company demands that Gazprom reconsider gas transit tariffs in 2018-2019 and compensation of "arrears" of another $ 11.6 billion.

Earlier, Gazprom noted that it did not receive the rights to dispose of the assets of the Naftogaz company.

“Naftogaz did not receive any right to dispose of the assets of Gazprom, did not receive it and, I hope, will not receive it,” said Alexander Medvedev, deputy chairman of the board of the Russian company.

Thanks to Naftogaz, Kiev can replenish its budget and restrain the growth of gas tariffs, lawyer and international law specialist Maria Yarmush noted in an interview with RT.

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“Receiving compensation from already planned arbitration decisions from Gazprom, from the Russian side, they can somehow restrain the growth of gas tariffs, which they have incurred as a result of breach of contractual obligations, as a result of the fact that the population is impoverished and the solvency decreases and tariffs at the request of the IMF must be raised, ”Yarmush noted.

She did not rule out that, following the decision already taken by the Stockholm arbitration, similar incidents would follow.

“The bias of arbitration is visible to the naked eye. Next year, I can imagine, and the likelihood of this is very high, that European countries will again put pressure on the Stockholm arbitration and lobby for making decisions not in favor of Gazprom. This will provide an opportunity to support the deplorable economy of Ukraine, ”said Yarmush.

The lawyer added that the intentions of Naftogaz to arrest the assets of the company that own Nord Stream-2 and Nord Stream can worsen Kiev’s relations with a number of European countries.

“The arrest of shares of companies that control the“ Flows ... ”will certainly cause discontent of commercial companies. German, for example, or Austrian, companies, partners of "Gazprom", - said Yarmush.

In her opinion, dissatisfaction will be expressed "in distrust of the political circles of these countries, who help Ukraine at the expense of Russia to solve their financial problems."

Stockholm arbitration

Recall that in February 2018, the Stockholm Arbitration ordered Gazprom to pay $ 4.63 billion to Naftogaz. This decision is motivated by allegedly “underdelivery” of gas under the transit agreement. However, the Ukrainian company owed Russia about $ 2.1 billion, and as a result, Gazprom was obliged to pay about $ 2.56 billion.

According to the second decision of the Stockholm arbitration, the price of transit through Ukraine should be reduced. Gazprom does not recognize both decisions and disputes them in court, and therefore at the moment “overpays” for transit. However, Naftogaz began to credit these funds in repayment of court debt.

In addition, Naftogaz has already begun the procedure of enforcing debt collection from Gazprom, however, at the request of a Russian company, the process was stopped.

The lawsuit for $ 11.6 billion was filed by the Ukrainian side on July 6. He was associated with the requirement of Naftogaz to recalculate tariffs for 2018-2019. The lawsuit about $ 5 billion of “compensation” for the Crimean assets of Naftogaz was filed back in September 2017.

Russia offered a global resolution to these disputes, and such an agreement was almost reached during the tripartite gas talks on July 17 in Berlin. However, at the last moment, the representatives of Ukraine declared inadmissibility of an out-of-court decision.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his readiness to extend the agreement on the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine, which Kiev insists on, provided that the parties can conclude a settlement agreement.

“We are ready to extend the transit contract that will expire next year if the dispute between business entities is resolved in the Stockholm Arbitration Court,” Putin said during a meeting with Trump in Helsinki on July 16.

Negative cash flow

Earlier, on December 20, Naftogaz admitted that the company may encounter difficulties with the purchase of gas in early 2019.

“In 2018, the Naftogaz group has a negative net cash flow. We will enter the year 2019 with minimal cash balances, which makes gas purchases difficult during the peak of the heating period, ”wrote the head of the company, Andrey Kobolev, on his Facebook.

A top manager linked the financial position of Naftogaz with the sale of gas to the population at preferential prices. Kobolev argues that the government does not fulfill its obligations in terms of compensation in exchange for price benefits.

“In general, we see that in 2019 we will face a liquidity deficit of 35.2 billion hryvnias,” Kobolev concluded.

In November, Naftogaz filed a lawsuit against the Ukrainian government for damages arising from the company's special obligations to sell gas to the population at prices set by the government. The damage to the company is estimated at about $ 238 million.

Statements about the unprofitableness of "Naftogaz" should be checked by law enforcement agencies, as this suggests that everything in the company is "not quite clean with financial flows." RT stated this point of view earlier, by Alexey Grivach, Deputy Director General for Gas Issues of the National Energy Security Fund.

“They receive very substantial funds from the transit (of Russian gas through Ukraine. - RT) at very low costs. They do not make any investments in the maintenance and development of the system. In addition, gas prices in Ukraine are raised to the level of import parity, moreover, for the entire volume of gas, including Ukrainian production, ”said the expert.