Uniper Ends Gas-Supply Pact With Russia After Court Ruling

By Christian Moess Laursen

Uniper terminated its Russian gas-supply contracts following a Swedish court ruling in its favor, formally ending its long-standing with state-owned Gazprom Export.

The German utility said Wednesday the decision was made possible after an arbitration tribunal seated in Stockholm last week awarded it the right to terminate the contracts along with more than 13 billion euros ($13.96 billion) in damages for the gas not supplied by Gazprom since the mid-2022.

"This ruling provides legal clarity for Uniper," Chief Executive Michael Lewis said.

Uniper launched proceedings against Gazprom Export toward the end of 2022 to claim compensation for gas it hadn't received from the Russian natural-gas exporter under long-term gas supply contracts following Russia's decision to throttle deliveries to Europe.

Although no gas had been delivered since August 2022, the contracts were still legally in force and would have continued to exist until the mid-2030s, Uniper said.

Last year, Russia took control of the assets of Uniper and Finland's Fortum in the country, handing the stakes in their Russian subsidiaries to a government agency.

From June 2022, Uniper had to procure gas for its customers through other means at higher prices, incurring costs of about EUR13.2 billion in 2022, according to the group's annual report.

Uniper was only able to bear these additional costs and avoid insolvency with state support.

Gazprom Export didn't immediately reply on a request for comment by Dow Jones Newswires.

Write to Christian Moess Laursen at christian.moess@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 12, 2024 04:28 ET (08:28 GMT)

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