Talks about the possible payment by Gazprom of the debt to Naftogaz by the decision of the Stockholm Arbitration suggests that, that the parties are close to a "package" agreement - says the director of the Energy Security Fund Sergey Pikin.
Russia must reach an agreement with Ukraine on the decision of Stockholm
Information from RIA Novosti appeared with reference to representatives of the Russian delegation at negotiations with Ukraine on gas issues, that Gazprom can pay off the debt to Naftogaz, which was created by the Swedish arbitrators.
Recall, that the Stockholm arbitration, on the basis of the "poor state of the Ukrainian economy", made an unfair decision on the counterclaims of Gazprom and Naftogaz and invented a fine for the Russian company in 4,6 billion. This amount also burned Ukraine's gas debt to 2014 of the year, which was 2,04 billion, and formed the final debt in 2,56 billion dollars plus interest.
Gazprom is trying to overturn this decision of the arbitrators in a Swedish state court due to procedural circumstances - there is no appeal procedure in arbitration, but the Swedish judicial system is delaying its verdict in this controversial case.
obviously, that this is done, so that the parties themselves agree, because we have a difficult business, and the Swedes do not want to be the culprit of the next round of escalation of the situation. And, figure in 3 billion dollars includes penalties and other Ukrainian costs, but Russia is unlikely to agree to the payment of real money and is ready to provide Ukraine with a discount on gas or comparable volumes.
Initially the settlement of all disputes between Gazprom and Naftogaz under the contract 2009 year was the main condition of Russia, therefore this information must be taken, as a serious advance in these negotiations with the Ukrainian side.
“There is no package agreement yet, because we are just talking about gas topics. Especially, yesterday was Putin's remark, that it is possible to dock this issue with Ukraine's sovereign debt to 3 billion, but it won't be easy to do. After all, two different debts are affected here - commercial and state, and these are completely different things ", – states Pikin.
As for yesterday's talks with Ukraine, then it was a normal workflow, which gives a chance, that before the new year the basic agreement on gas between the Russian and Ukrainian parties will be signed.
"However, not yet completely clear, will there be any problems with gas transit after 1 January, but that positive, which was expressed yesterday by the representatives of Russia and Ukraine, shows, that they really made progress on this issue ", – summarizes Pikin.
Pikin considers, that there is no final agreement yet, since this requires official confirmation from Moscow and Kiev.
Any agreement between Russia and Ukraine on debt will be lawful
Professor at the Department of International Law, MGIMO Dmitry Labin in a conversation with FBA "Economics Today" noted, that there is no innovation here, since any international award must be voluntarily enforced.
“Here is the case, if it is not voluntarily performed, then compulsory enforcement of such a decision is applied here. This is what the New York Convention says 1958 year on the enforcement of arbitral awards ", – concludes Labin.
According to Dmitry Konstantinovich, the solution to this issue can occur not only by the payment of funds, but also with the help of offset - the Russian president hinted about this yesterday. Besides, there is a London case about 3 billion of sovereign debt of Ukraine, where the amount is suspiciously similar to the debt of "Gazprom", invented by the Swedish arbitrators. The experts initially paid attention to this..
"Maybe, that the strategy of the Russian authorities is related to the case on the sovereign debt of Ukraine, although there is no final point, since the issue is pending appeal in London ", – states Labin.
In perspective, if the decision in London is in favor of Russia, this option is possible under the offsetting system. Especially, from the point of view of international law, the parties can resolve their bilateral claims in any possible way.
"In international law, where the subjects are sovereign states, all is permissible, what happens according to the explicit will of states and does not contradict generally recognized legal principles. In this case, we do not see any contradiction, but in practice, with such a peaceful settlement, where there are mutual claims, which are weighted down by arbitral awards, need some kind of special legal mechanism, which requires special legal study ", – Labin sums up.
Russia will seek to reduce the volume of net cash payments and resolve the issue of mutual settlements in the framework of gas supplies and other obligations, which Ukraine has before Russia. They always do it, trying to find a mutually acceptable solution.
“By and large, here you need to keep in mind, that the decision of the Stockholm Arbitration does not directly concern Russia, but only Gazprom, as a legal entity, therefore, in this situation, it is the company that is the debtor ", – concludes Labin.
This should also be taken into account in Kiev., therefore, it is in their interests to come to an agreement with Moscow here, so as not to drown in litigation.
Dmitry Sikorski
