The Uniper-Gazprom Arbitration Ruling: Is the final curtain coming down on remaining long-term Russian gas supply contracts to Europe?

This comment explains the factual background of this month’s Uniper-Gazprom arbitral tribunal ruling which terminated the long term gas supply contracts between the parties, and its potentially seismic implications for European gas markets.

According to Uniper, the arbitration tribunal awarded the company the right to terminate its long-term gas supply contracts with Gazprom Export; and more than €13 billion in damages for the gas volumes not supplied by Gazprom Export since mid-2022. The potential for similar arbitral decisions to terminate the remaining Russian long-term contracts will give other suppliers – particularly LNG suppliers – more confidence that EU countries will need their gas imports for a longer period of time. European sanctions imposed on Russian LNG supplies and trans-shipment will add to this confidence.

By: Jonathan Stern , Katja Yafimava , Agnieszka Ason