OREANDA-NEWS  The head of the Greek company DEPA Commercial, Konstantinos Ksifaras, announced the beginning of arbitration proceedings with Gazprom due to the refusal of the Russian supplier to reduce the cost of gas, Kommersant reports.

The supply agreement was concluded under the take-or-pay scheme, however, the current spot fuel prices in Europe are significantly lower than those obtained from the terms of the contract with Gazprom. It is not possible to agree with the supplier on bringing the terms of the contract to reality, so the Greek company decided to act through the court.

"Commercial negotiations are ongoing now, they have not stopped, but the company has taken the next step — applied to arbitration," Xifaras explained.

Greece remains one of the last major buyers of Russian gas in Europe. The contact with DEPA was signed in January 2022, even before the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. At that time, the company called the prices offered very competitive, but over the past two years Europe has managed to achieve a sharp reduction in the cost of gas.

One of the arguments of DEPA representatives was the prices for another Greek customer of Gazprom, which was able to reduce payments. However, the downside of their position was the failure to fulfill the "take or pay" condition in 2022 and 2023.

As the newspaper notes, DEPA can count on success, among other things, because of the attitude towards Gazprom in Europe. The Russian company is not under sanctions, but even hiring lawyers to represent its interests will not be easy.

Moreover, it has previously lost similar proceedings, and the prospect of losing a large buyer may contribute to the compliance of the Russian monopolist. Earlier it was reported that at the end of last year Gazprom's net profit amounted to 696 billion rubles, which is seven percent less than the result of the previous year, and gross profit fell by 60 percent.