Russia Lodges Counter-Appeal in WTO Over Dispute With EU on 3rd Energy Package

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia on Wednesday filed a counter-appeal with the WTO over the dispute with the European Union on the so-called Third Energy Package, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development said.

"On September 26, 2018, Russia filed a counter-appeal complaint with the WTO dispute settlement body on the 'EU and its member states — measures for the energy sector' [the so-called third energy package] dispute," the ministry said in a statement. "The counter-appeal is about the measures that have been previously taken by the arbitration group, not in favor of Russia. The counter-appeal is filed if one of the parties to the dispute lodges an appeal. In line with the WTO rules, the parties will also have to provide responses to each other claims in the near future," the ministry added.

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The European Union's Third Energy Package is a legislative package for an internal gas and electricity market in the block, which stipulates the separation of companies' generation and sale operations from their transmission networks. Russia originally appealed over the issue in 2014, as the package created numerous obstacles for "South Stream" project, which was later canceled.