BERLIN (AP) — German energy company Uniper said Wednesday that a tribunal has awarded it more than 13 billion euros (nearly $14 billion) in damages for gas that Russia’s Gazprom has not supplied since 2022.
Uniper said the arbitration tribunal in Stockholm also ruled on June 7 that it has the right to terminate long-term gas supply contracts with state-owned Gazprom Export, and is now formally ending the relationship.
The German government nationalized Uniper at the end of 2022 after Russia cut gas supplies to the country. Before Ukraine’s massive invasion of Ukraine, the company bought about half of its gas from Russia, which began cutting supplies to Germany in June 2022 and stopped supplying gas altogether later that summer.
Uniper incurred huge costs as a result of those cuts as it was forced to buy gas at much higher market prices to meet its supply contract obligations, and announced in November 2022 that it had initiated proceedings against Gazprom at the Stockholm tribunal.
Uniper said the tribunal’s ruling is legally binding and final, but indicated it is doubtful whether damages will actually be paid.
“All amounts would flow to the German federal government,” CEO Michael Lewis said in a statement. “From today’s perspective, it is not yet clear whether significant amounts can be expected.”
Some of Uniper’s contracts with Gazprom would have remained in force until the mid-1930s if they had not been terminated.
Gazprom cited technical problems in 2022 as a reason for cutting gas flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline under the Baltic Sea, an explanation German officials dismissed as cover for a political power play after the invasion of Ukraine.
