Saipem sues Russia’s Gazprom unit for S Stream contract break

MOSCOW, Feb 1 (PRIME) -- Italy’s Saipem has submitted a lawsuit against South Stream Transport, a unit of Russian gas giant Gazprom, to the International Chamber of Commerce demanding to cover 759 million euro losses because of cancellation of an agreement to build the South Stream gas pipeline, according to a Saipem’s statement seen by PRIME on Monday.

According to the document, this case can be included in another one, a general claim over contract cancellation and the South Stream project suspension, with the total amount is yet to be calculated.

In December 2014, Russia decided to construct Turkish Stream, a gas pipeline that could run to the Turkey–Greece border to replace South Stream, cancelled partially on E.U. demands, which was supposed to carry Russian gas to Europe bypassing Ukraine.

After Gazprom’s decision to focus on Turkish Stream, Saipem announced changes in the deal conditions which allow it to build the Turkish Stream sea part, but in July 2015, Gazprom terminated its contract with Saipem as the partners failed to agree on a range of issues concerning the project.

End