"Naftogaz of Ukraine" announced the resumption of the arrest of Gazprom shares in Switzerland. An expert in the field of energy Nikolai Khrenkov on Sputnik radio commented on the statements of the Ukrainian side.

"Naftogaz Ukraine" said that the court in Switzerland resumed the arrest of shares of Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG, owned by Gazprom. The Ukrainian company noted that the assets will remain under arrest until an appeal by Naftogaz of Ukraine on the decision to lift the arrest from these shares, which was previously taken by the local debt collection agency, will be considered.

Naftogaz claims that earlier the shares were released from arrest only on the basis of the assertions of Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG that the securities are located outside the canton of Zug and, accordingly, outside the jurisdiction of the debt collection authority, and therefore be excluded from the list of arrested assets.

The Stockholm arbitration in December 2017 and February 2018 ruled on the disputes between Gazprom and Naftogaz regarding gas supply and transit contracts, respectively, obliging the Russian company to pay Ukrainian 2.56 billion dollars. The Russian company appealed this decision and said that it was terminating contracts with Naftogaz.

At the end of May, Ukraine announced that it had initiated a procedure of compulsory collection of funds and that the court supported its application for the arrest of shares of Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG.

"Gazprom" in June won in the court of appeal of the Swedish district of Svea suspension of the execution of the Stockholm arbitration award. "Naftogaz" tried to cancel this verdict, but the court found his arguments unconvincing. After that, the company said that the court decision suspends the recovery from Gazprom only in Sweden.

On Sputnik radio, an independent expert in the field of energy, a columnist for the Federal News Agency, Nikolai Khrenkov, expressed the opinion that there was a lot of PR in the statement of the Ukrainian side.

"There is also a decision of the Swedish Court of Appeal to suspend the execution of the Stockholm arbitration decision, but apparently when we are dealing with the Ukrainian side, we must very clearly understand that there are a lot of PR in its statements, and for its huge volume to get to the truth, but even if this information is confirmed, and indeed the arrest of Gazprom's assets "in Switzerland - Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG - is really going on, it will in no way be an obstacle to the operation of the Nord Stream gas pipelines 1 "and" Nord Stream - 2 ". Because in this case, interim measures presuppose only a ban on the sale, and no one is going to sell them. The enterprises continue to work further: some of the gas pipeline that has been built continue gas transportation, while others are starting work on the construction of a new gas pipeline. And even if the court in Switzerland takes such a decision, then Gazprom will appeal and with a high degree of likelihood right will be recognized for him. In the meantime, we will regard this as a PR of the Ukrainian side, "said Nikolai Khrenkov.