Gazprom files lawsuit against Turkmenistan demanding it to change gas supply terms

Gazprom has lodged a lawsuit against Turkmenistan demanding a change in the gas supply terms. The Stockholm Arbitration Court has already received the lawsuit. The key demand of the Russian company is revision of the contract terms concerning the supply price.

For the time being, Gazprom receives gas from Turkmenistan under the agreements dating back to 2003 that provide for gas supply for a period of 25 years at about $240 per 1000 cubic meters. The document provided for supply of 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually, but Gazprom has already warned that it will cap its gas procurement to 4 billion cubic meters in 2015 in view of its own gas surplus. In July, Turkmengaz came out with quite sharp statements against Gazprom calling it an insolvent company.   The Turkmen company said Gazprom fails to pay for the gas supplied to it. The allegations were rephrased later and the Russian company was blamed for a partial payment for the gas supplies.  No amounts were reported, however.

EADaily reported earlier, the analysts in the gas field say Turkmenistan makes allegations against Gazprom as the Russian company is keen to refuse from gas purchases from that country.  Gazprom no longer needs the Turkmen gas and it has notified Turkmenistan of its intention to halt the purchases gradually within the coming years.  This is what sparked the harsh criticism of Gazprom by Turkmengaz.  In response, Gazprom filed a lawsuit to the Stockholm Arbitration Court and Turkmenistan may face even more loss in income from the gas export.