PGNiG says Gazprom did not slash gas prices

Poland’s dominant gas firm PGNiG claims that Russian giant Gazprom has not reduced gas prices despite a court ruling last month.

The arbitration tribunal in Stockholm ruled in March that Gazprom must pay PGNiG about $1.5 billion in a pricing dispute case.

The court also ruled that a gas pricing formula in PGNiG’s Yamal long-term contract with Gazprom should be changed to take into account natural gas market quotations.

“Gazprom is not honouring the award issued following the long arbitration process, continuing to issue invoices based on the invalid pricing formula”, PGNiG said in a statement on Friday.

PGNiG added it would consider notifying the European Commission of Gazprom’s “anti-competitive practices involving its failure to comply with the arbitration award”.

PGNiG currently mainly imports natural gas via pipeline supplies from Gazprom under the Yamal deal.

The company previously said Poland would stop importing Russian pipeline gas in 2022 when the country’s contract with Gazprom exipres.

In the meantime, the company has continued to increase imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) via Poland’s only regasification facility in Swinoujscie.

PGNiG imported 0.98 billion cubic meters of LNG into Poland in the first quarter of this year.

This represents a 34.2 per cent increase year-on-year when compared to the January-March period in 2019.

In 2019, PGNiG imported 3.43 billion cubic meters of LNG, a rise of more than 25 per cent on the year.