BERLIN (AFP) – German energy giant Uniper said yesterday a tribunal had awarded it over EUR13 billion (USD14 billion) in damages from Russian state energy company Gazprom for its failure to deliver gas.
The ruling gave Uniper “the right to terminate the contracts and awarded it an amount of more than EUR13 billion in damages for the gas volumes not supplied”, the company said in a statement.
It was not clear, however, “whether significant amounts are to be expected” from Gazprom, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Michael Lewis said in the statement.
Gazprom steadily dwindled gas supplies to Germany following the beginning of the war in Ukraine in 2022.
The diminishing volumes sent gas prices soaring, pushing Uniper – Germany’s biggest importer of the fuel – to the brink of bankruptcy.
Uniper reported a EUR40 billion net loss for the first nine months of 2022, one of the biggest losses in German corporate history.
With Russian supplies slashed, Uniper has been forced to pay high prices on the open market.
The German government stepped in to nationalise Uniper over fears its failure could send shockwaves through Europe’s top economy.
Uniper initiated the legal action against Gazprom at the Stockholm-based tribunal in November 2022 over the Russian company’s failure to delivered agreed volumes of gas.
Although Gazprom completely stopped supplying Uniper with gas in August 2022, the supply contracts “were still legally in force and… would have continued to exist until the mid-2030s”, Uniper said.
The tribunal’s ruling provided “legal certainty”, CEO Lewis said.
Any damages payments from Gazprom “would flow to the German federal government”, which bailed out the company, Lewis said.
PHOTO: AP
