Leipzig-based German energy company VNG has suspended Russia's Gazprom lawsuit as the prospect of recovering compensation is fading, many sources familiar with the matter said.
Currently, VNG is among the German companies that have stopped legal action against Gazprom. According to sources, the high attorney fees are an additional reason for these companies to stop litigating.
VNG, majority of which is held by energy company EnBW. VNG previously imported the majority of its gas from Gazprom.
The most notable lawsuit since Gazprom stopped gas deliveries since 2022 is Germany's Uniper case that won more than €13 billion in damages in an arbitration award in Stockholm last June. The court also allowed Uniper to terminate its gas supply contracts with Russia, with some of them set to expire in the mid-2030s.
Despite winning an arbitration case after Gazprom failed to fulfill its gas supply contracts in 2022, German energy companies such as Uniper are still struggling to get compensation. This is partly due to the decline in the international assets of the Russian gas giant after Germany nationized Gazprom Germany at the peak of the energy crisis in Europe.
To date, Uniper has only been able to recover about 530 million euros in the Gazprom case. Last month, the German energy company also received another amount of money but did not have a detailed figure.
In March 2024, a Russian court ruled in favor of Gazprom's counter-suit, forcing Uniper to pay 14.3 billion euros in damages.
In addition to companies in Germany, Gazprom has faced many legal battles with customers and Russian gas transmission units in Europe since the conflict broke out in Ukraine.
Owner of the Yamal gas pipeline in Poland, Europol Gaz is pursuing a compensation claim of about 6 billion zlotys (about 1.35 billion euros) against Gazprom.
Czech energy company Net4Gas also filed a lawsuit against the referee over the delayed payments in April 2023. Czech company CEZ also filed a lawsuit against Gazprom in Geneva in early 2023 with an international arbitration court to demand compensation for the delivery of less than contracted gas.
French company Engie filed an arbitration against Gazprom in February 2023 for the Russian company's failure to fulfill its gas supply obligations.
Poland's PG Ni NiG (now PKN Orlen) sued Gazprom in arbitration in March 2022 over gas payments.
Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz initiated arbitration procedures in September 2022 against Gazprom over the transportation of Russian gas to Europe.
Italy's Eni also filed an arbitration in May 2022 against Russia's request for payment for gas purchases in rubles.
Also in May 2022, the Finnish energy supplier Gasum announced the arbitration of a dispute over payment in rubles with Gazprom Export.
