A division of “Gazprom” to end the lawsuits against “Unicredit”, a British court ruled

The British Supreme Court has ordered a division of Russian energy giant Gazprom to drop lawsuits filed against Italian bank UniCredit over a failed gas project, Reuters reported.

RusChemAlliance filed a series of lawsuits in Russian courts after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions led to the shutdown of work on a liquefied natural gas terminal in the Baltic port of Ust-Luga.

The company, which is half owned by Gazprom, sued Unicredit for about 450 million euros in August 2023 after the Italian bank refused to pay bank guarantees related to the project because of Western sanctions.

Unicredit filed a counter-suit in London, which prevents RusChemAlliance from continuing the business in Russia, based on the contract between the two parties, according to which any dispute must be resolved through arbitration in France.

RusChemAlliance tried to challenge this decision, but the appeal was rejected today by the High Court in London.

“RusChemAlliance” and “Unicredit” have so far refrained from commenting on the subject.

The decision comes just days after reports emerged that the European Central Bank will order Unicredit to limit its business in Russia.