Naftogaz chief expects Stockholm arbitration decision on Gazprom dispute in H1 2016

National joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy expects that the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce will issue its decision on the dispute with Russia's Gazprom in the first half of 2016, Naftogaz Board Chairman Andriy Kobolev has said.

"We're preparing for the hearing, which is to be in the first quarter of 2016, and we expect that in the first half of 2016 it will be finished," he told reporters on Tuesday on the sidelines of the eleventh International Congress "Institutional and Technical Aspects of Reforming Housing and Public Services 2015."

Kobolev also said that no progress has been made in negotiations between Naftogaz Ukrainy and Gazprom on the increase of the cost of Russian gas transit.

"Frankly speaking, the expectations are the following: it is likely that the issue will be also settled in court, not during the negotiations," he said, adding that a corresponding claim has been filed by Naftogaz Ukrainy to the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.