Poland claiming $1.5 bln lost profit from Gazprom due to transit termination - media

MOSCOW. May 19 (Interfax) - EuroPol Gaz, the owner of the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, has filed a claim with the Arbitration Institute at the Chamber of Commerce in Stockholm for about $1.5 billion, Polish media reported.

Among other things, the claims relate to PLN 5.357 billion of lost profits for the period up to 2045 due to the termination of the transportation of Russian gas through the gas pipeline, as well as debt of PLN 848 million for transit.

A long-term contract for the transportation of Russian gas through the Yamal-Europe pipeline ended three years ago, in May 2020. The pipeline's capacity was then distributed at auctions for various periods from a year to several hours.

The liberalization of the European gas market has resulted in long-term transit contracts being abandoned for transparent booking at auctions to eliminate extra costs for booking excess capacity from the gas price. As a result, consignors are free to book only the amount of capacity they need and for the time they need it.

The 2,000-km Yamal-Europe pipeline from Torzhok, Russia to Frankfurt (Oder) in Germany can carry around 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year and reached its design capacity in 2006. The Polish section is 683 km long with five compressor stations. It is owned by the EuRoPol Gaz joint venture and run by a separate Polish Gas Transmission System operator, Gaz System.

Poland imposed sanctions against Gazprom in 2022. The restrictions freeze the rights to shares and other securities of EuRoPol Gaz and dividend payments. The authorities introduced external management with respect to Gazprom's 48% stake.

Russia imposed retaliatory blocking measures against EuRoPol Gaz - for Gazprom, this means a ban on the use of the gas pipeline owned by this company to transport Russian gas through Poland.