Gazprom Export, based in St. Petersburg, initiated a legal action in the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region against German traders Uniper Global Commodities SE and Meta-Methanhandel GmbH. Evidence from arbitration case files confirms the filing. The claim is dated February 21, though the file offers no additional details about the application at this time.
Earlier, Gazprom Export had pursued litigation against a number of international partners, including Czech state-owned NET4GAS and Dutch Gasunie Transport Services, among others. The company sought to prevent these entities from continuing arbitration transactions in foreign courts, signaling a broader strategy to manage cross-border dispute processes.
In autumn 2022, a separate lawsuit was launched by Uniper against Gazprom Export, seeking compensation for damages tied to a disruption in natural gas supplies from Russian territory. The German company estimated that replacing the shortfall could involve more than 11.6 billion euros. Gazprom Export did not acknowledge any breach of contract in connection with the dispute.
In a related development, a Russian court imposed a substantial fine on Europol GAZ, a Polish entity, amounting to approximately 1.5 billion dollars, highlighting the broader tension in energy-related arbitration and cross-border enforcement between Russian and European parties. This sequence of cases underscores the complex legal environment surrounding gas supply agreements and the strategic use of arbitration as a forum for dispute resolution across jurisdictions.