Arbitration with Gazprom: How to collect

A number of companies have filed arbitration claims against Gazprom over non-deliveries of contracted gas or other matters—and won. The next step is to collect the award, but this is no easy task

European energy companies, having filed arbitration claims against Gazprom amounting to tens of billions of euros, are finding that winning their case was ostensibly the easiest part. Collecting the money is often where the difficulty really lies. Germany’s Uniper, for example, was awarded around €13b ($15b) in damages by a Stockholm tribunal last year for non-deliveries of gas under a long-term contract with Gazprom. Other companies, including RWE, OMV, Czech grid operator Net4Gas and state utility CEZ, have been awarded smaller amounts while many other cases are still pending. In June this year, Ukrainian state-owned gas company Naftogaz said it has been awarded $1.37b in an International