PGNiG says wins suit against Gazprom, expects $1.5 bln refund

WARSAW, Mar 30 (PRIME) -- Poland's PGNiG has won a gas price case against Russian gas giant Gazprom and has the right for a U.S. $1.5 billion refund, the company said in a statement on Monday.

"The arbitration court in Stockholm made a final decision in the arbitration process in a case of PGNiG against Gazprom and Gazprom Export concerning reduction of the contract price for the gas shipped by company Gazprom basing on a sales contract for natural gas to Poland dated September 25, 1996," the company said.

According to PGNiG, the court decision covers gas deliveries starting from January 1, 2014, when the company filed a price revision suit. The court ruled to change the pricing formula because of the link with the European natural gas market quotations.

A 1996 Russian–Polish contract remains in force until 2022 and envisages sales of up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Poland per year. The price was reduced by 10% in 2012.

In July 2018, Gazprom Export said that the court had issued a preliminary decision and agreed with the arguments of Gazprom, turning down PGNiG’s suit. The arbiter panel confirmed the right of the Polish company to demand price changes, but disagreed with the pricing formula and the price changes suggested by PGNiG.

The panel wanted to hold additional consultations with the companies before making a final decision.

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