Russia’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom is facing an avalanche of lawsuits from European energy firms totaling €18 billion ($19.6 billion), according to The Moscow Times and The Kyiv Independent.
The lawsuits are rooted in Gazprom’s decision in 2022 to drastically cut gas supplies to Europe, after Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded payments be made in rubles—a demand many European customers rejected.
The supply cuts, which included key infrastructure like the Nord Stream pipeline, triggered a continent-wide energy crisis and forced several utilities into costly alternatives.
Uniper Leads the Legal Charge
The largest lawsuit comes from Uniper, once Gazprom’s biggest customer in Germany and a co-investor in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Uniper is seeking €14.3 billion ($15.5 billion) in damages after its contract for 20 billion cubic meters of Russian gas per year was unilaterally disrupted.
Other European energy firms have followed suit, pushing total claims close to Gazprom’s entire annual gas export revenue, which was about $19 billion last year—$10 billion from Europe and Turkey, $7 billion from China, and $2 billion from Central Asia and CIS countries.
Gazprom Fires Back
In response, Gazprom has launched counterclaims in Russian courts, aiming to block international legal proceedings. Russian authorities argue that any disputes should be resolved under Russian jurisdiction, particularly given the geopolitical and economic sanctions environment.
So far, European companies have pushed back, insisting that international arbitration is necessary due to the cross-border nature of the contracts.
Adding another twist, the Financial Times recently reported that Matthias Warnig—a former East German intelligence officer and close associate of Putin—is lobbying the U.S. to support a potential restart of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
While the pipeline was severely damaged in an apparent sabotage attack in September 2022 and never entered operation, efforts to revive or repurpose it remain politically contentious. It was initially co-financed by five major European energy companies.
These legal battles underline the breakdown in Russia-Europe energy relations that began with the full-scale war in Ukraine and Putin’s attempt to weaponize gas exports.
The results were felt across the continent as energy prices surged, forcing governments to step in with emergency support for households and businesses.
