{"id":11332,"date":"2023-01-03T14:02:15","date_gmt":"2023-01-03T12:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/factcheck.bg\/?p=11332"},"modified":"2023-01-03T14:02:15","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T12:02:15","slug":"the-arbitration-between-finland-s-energy-provider-gasum-and-gazprom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factcheck.bg\/en\/the-arbitration-between-finland-s-energy-provider-gasum-and-gazprom\/","title":{"rendered":"The arbitration between Finland’s energy provider Gasum and Gazprom"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 14 November the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Institute passed its decision on the case between Finnish state energy provider Gasum and the Russian Gazprom Export. The arbitration procedure was initiated by Gasum in May, when Gazprom insisted on being paid in rubles for its gas deliveries. As a results of the Finnish side’s refusal to comlply, Gazprom cut off its gas supply for the country on 21 May.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are few publicly confirmed facts on the arbitration case, as trade disputes are settled by the Stockholm Arbitration Institute under conditions of full confidentiality. The only available information therefore comes from the two disputing companies. Their public statements, which overlap only partially, have given rise to conflicting interpretations and speculation on Bulgarian media. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Comments on the topic were also made by Boyko Borissov in a press conference held by GERB on 18 November on the occasion of the new ammendments to the Election Law:\u00a0 \u201eYesterday in Stockholm the arbitration said what Delyan Dobrev had been warning us about for months. Yet he was being light-heartedly dismissed, we were told there would be no problem. And now the arbitration has sentenced Finland to pay 300 million euro under the contract with Gazprom and recognised the force majeure of Putin’s order. If the same court, or another one, was to pass a similar ruling on Bulgaria, we would have to pay over 2 billion levs [approx. 1 billion euro – editor’s note], Borissov said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prompted by a question from Vessela Nikolaeva, Factcheck.bg examined the known facts on the topic.<\/span><\/p>\n

What does the arbitration award say<\/h3>\n

The Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) does not discuss any of its operations in public and it does not deny or confirm its clients’ statements, the SCC press office explained in reply to Factcheck.bg’s enquiry. That is also the reason why there is no impartial official announcement on the arbitration award in the dispute between Gazprom and Gasum.<\/span><\/p>\n

The only overlapping element in the two companies’ statements regarding the resolution is that arbitration award ordered the two sides to continue their negotiations and seek to resume their compliance with the contract terms.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Russian and the Finnish side have announced information on some of the points in the arbitration award but those points do not fully match and are not confirmed by what the other side is saying:<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n