OMV calls Gazprom's lawsuits 'illegitimate', initiates arbitration, APA reports
April 30 (Reuters) - Austrian oil & gas group OMV has initiated arbitration proceedings against the Russian energy group Gazprom, concerning among other matters its stake in a Russian gas field, Chief Executive Officer Alfred Stern said in an interview with Austrian press agency APA on Tuesday.
OMV's 25% stake in the Russian natural gas field of Yuzhno-Russkoye was nationalised by Russian President Vladimir Putin's decree in late 2023, something that Austria's partly state-owned firm now wants to challenge in an international court.
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Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom, which co-owns the gas field, in return has filed lawsuits in a Russian court against Austria's OMV Gas Marketing & Trading unit, Czech utility CEZ, and Slovak energy group ZSE, according to court documents.
"We view these proceedings as illegitimate and do not recognise St. Petersburg as the place of jurisdiction, as we have contractually regulated how and where possible disputes must be settled," OMV's Chief Executive Stern said.
Gazprom and some other Russian companies are trying to move court cases to Russia from international arbitration. Many of the disputes stem from the breakdown of business relations between Russia and the West over the conflict in Ukraine.
(Reporting by Tristan Veyet and Chiara Holzhaeuser in Gdansk, editing by Andrey Sychev and Christian Schmollinger)