Swedish Court Refuses to Uphold Gazprom's Appeal in Transit Dispute With Naftogaz

STOCKHOLM (Sputnik) - Sweden's Svea Court of Appeal has refused to uphold an appeal of Russia's Gazprom against an arbitration's decision in its transit dispute with Ukraine's Naftogaz.

"Today's decision means that the court has rejected Gazprom's claim, and the decision of the arbitration cannot be cancelled. Apart from that, the court has not detected any procedural violations," the Svea Court of Appeal's ruling, released on Wednesday, read.

The decision cannot be appealed.

Last week, Russia's Gazprom officially proposed to Ukraine's Naftogaz to extend the existing contract for the Russian gas transit through Ukraine, which expires in the end of the year, or to sign a new deal for one year taking into consideration the forecast for the European Union's gas demand.

Both the extension of the active contract and the signing of a new one are only possible if both sides withdraw all claims filed with the international arbitrage and cease all court proceedings, if the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine abolishes its decision on slapping Gazprom with a fine over alleged economical competition breach, and if Naftogaz calls off its request for the European Commission to launch a probe against Gazprom.

The Stockholm arbitration delivered judgments in the Gazprom-Naftogaz disputes on gas transit and delivery contracts in December 2017 and February 2018. As a result, the Russian gas giant was obligated to pay $2.56 billion to Naftogaz. Gazprom appealed the rulings.