The operator of the Czech gas transmission system Net4Gas announced the victory of the second arbitration proceedings against Gazprom. The company made money on the transit of gas from Nord Stream, but after sabotage, supplies stopped, and Gazprom stopped payments. Net4Gas, in turn, turned out to be at a loss, as the Russian company brought the main income.
"N4G now announces that it has been awarded the decision rendered in the second of the arbitration proceedings. The arbitration court agreed with N4G's arguments in this decision and fully satisfied its claim against Gazprom Export and its parent company," the Czech operator said in a disclosure to investors.
They stated that N4G will now consider its further course of action regarding the options for collecting the amount due.
Earlier, in September, Net4Gas announced victory in the first arbitration. The operator did not provide the amount of compensation demanded from Gazprom.
It is known that the operator and the gas supply company had a long-term transit contract under which gas from Nord Stream passed through the Czech GTS. He went from Germany back to Germany because of the peculiarities of the infrastructure of the region. At the end of August 2022, Gazprom stopped deliveries via Nord Stream due to sanctions and the inability to repair the turbines of the compressor station. And on September 26, sabotage occurred on a gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea and both lines were blown up.
Next, in January 2023, Net4Gas announced that it had not received the last monthly payments due to it on key contracts.
In April, the operator decided to initiate arbitration proceedings and demanded compensation.The loss of gas transit from Nord Stream was a serious blow to the Czech operator. As EADaily wrote, Net4Gas reported in its annual reports that in 2021 gas transit through the Czech Republic amounted to more than 42 billion cubic meters, and in 2023 and 2024 it fell to 1 billion cubic meters and below. Accordingly, the company's profit in 2021 amounted to $ 294 million, and in 2024 — just over $ 400 thousand. In 2023, the company generally suffered losses of $ 26 million.
Andreas Rau, Executive Director of Net4Gas, stated based on the results of 2023 that it was the most difficult in the history of Net4Gas.
The consequence of the loss of Russian gas volumes was an increase in tariffs for gas transportation in the Czech Republic, including for transit. For example, from January 1, 2026, new prices for gas supplies through the country and transit to Slovakia or Ukraine from Germany is getting expensive. According to the ERU regulator, the supply of gas from the border with Germany (Waidhaus) to the border with Slovakia (Lanžhot) will cost $ 128 per thousand cubic meters with annual reservations. This is a third of the current cost of gas on the exchanges of EU countries.
The national regulator reported in the decision that the new tariffs will cover the economically reasonable costs of ensuring reliable, safe and efficient operation of the country's GTS.
Gazprom believes that decisions in international arbitrations will not be fair in the current conditions and refuse to recognize them. The company tried to stop the arbitration proceedings through the prohibitions of the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, which imposed a fine of 113 million euros. However, the Czech operator did not give up the desire to receive compensation.