Germany’s energy firm Uniper has announced its legal entitlement to claim over €13 billion in compensation for its disrupted gas deliveries from former Russian partner Gazprom, according to a recent arbitration court ruling.
Uniper was left reeling in the wake of Russian troops invading Ukraine in mid-2022. The company experienced a significant reduction in deliveries into Germany via the Nord Stream pipeline, which later stopped completely.
“This ruling provides legal clarity for Uniper,” commented Uniper CEO, Michael Lewis. He added that it is still unknown whether significant compensation amounts are to be expected.
The supply disruption had pushed Uniper close to bankruptcy. It had to be rescued by the German State, wich stepped in and nationalised the company. As a result, any compensation Uniper obtains from Gazprom will be directed to the German State.
Uniper quoted from the arbitration decision, which has not been made public, stating that it was also granted the right to terminate its contracts with Gazprom concerning long-term gas supply.
Uniper acted as Gazprom’s main client in Germany, a country that built its economic model around importing inexpensive Russian gas for its industrial sector. However, the war in Ukraine has dramatically upset this balance, forcing the country to rethink its energy policy, which has resulted in soaring energy costs for businesses.
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Without the supply of gas from Gazprom, Uniper had to meet its contracts by purchasing gas on the spot market where prices had exploded in the summer of 2022. Invoking “force majeure,” Gazprom at that time justified its delivery stoppage without providing further details.
In response, Uniper decided the same year to take Gazprom to the international arbitration court based in Stockholm to claim compensation for the interrupted supplies.
Uniper’s action has since been echoed by another German energy company, RWE, which has also struggled with disruptions in the delivery of Russian gas.
