Another country is preparing a lawsuit against Gazprom. App Coming Soon

Bulgarian Energy Minister Rossen Hristov said on Monday that his country is working on a lawsuit against Gazprom in arbitration.

Another lawsuit against Gazprom. what amount?

Hristov, referring to internal analyzes, assessed that the risk that Gazprom could apply to the International Arbitration Court of the International Chamber of Commerce in Stockholm and win the case was small, but stressed that before Bulgaria claims the Russian company, it must complete the analytical work on the application.

The Minister stressed that Bulgaria is preparing documents with the participation of experienced international companies and the application will be ready “in a month or two.”

Bulgaria is one of the countries that, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, refused to switch to ruble payments and therefore was cut off by Gazprom from gas supplies.

Lawsuits against Gazprom for breach of contracts have already been filed by Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo (PGNiG), as well as Italian Eni, German RWE, Finnish Gasum, French Engie and Ukrainian Naftogaz.

Gazprom’s profits are melting

As we have already reported, last year Gazprom’s net profit amounted to 1.226 trillion rubles, which is equivalent to about $15.7 billion. This is 40 percent. less than in 2021.

According to the Russian energy giant, the drop in profits is due to an increase in the tax burden. In the second half of last year, the Russian authorities introduced tax increases, seeking money to finance the protracted war in Ukraine. The sanctions imposed on Russian fuel also have a significant impact on Gazprom’s profits. Although natural gas itself, the company’s main source of income, was not hit by sanctions, its exports have been cut by almost half as many countries become independent of Russian raw materials.