The Russian gas company Gazprom has sued three Central European companies in a Russian court, including the Czech energy company ČEZ and Západoslovenská energetika (ZSE). This was reported by the TASS agency today, according to which it follows from court files.
Lawsuits against Czech and Slovak companies and Austrian OMV Gazprom filed on Thursday. No other details about the case have been released.
Last February, ČEZ started arbitration proceedings against Gazprom due to the reduction of agreed gas supplies, and it is demanding damages from the Russian giant for more than a billion crowns. The situation surrounding the gas trade became complicated when Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and the European Union adopted a series of anti-Russian sanctions in retaliation.
Gazprom and some other Russian companies are trying to move these lawsuits from international arbitration to Russia, Reuters writes. Gazprom has the largest reserves of natural gas in the world and has a monopoly on the export of this strategically important raw material from Russia through a network of gas pipelines. The Kremlin has control over the company.
Gazprom is the largest Russian joint-stock company and the largest exporter of natural gas in the world. It supplies natural gas to many countries of the European Union, mainly to Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and Poland. In recent years, its trade with Turkey and with countries outside Europe, especially with China, has also been developing.
