A court in Kazakhstan has authorized the forced collection of $1.4 billion from Russia's Gazprom in favor of Ukraine's Naftogaz under an international arbitration ruling, Naftogaz Group CEO Serhii Koretsky said.
Legally, the ruling moves the $1.4 billion judgment, final in Switzerland since March, when the Swiss Federal Supreme Court rejected Gazprom's appeal, from a won-on-paper status to a legally enforceable status in a specific jurisdiction.
It is "the first public foreign court decision allowing the compulsory enforcement of this arbitration award in a separate jurisdiction," Koretsky said.
He did not provide further details, Interfax-Ukraine reported, but said the company continues systematic work to recover the compensation from the Russian state gas monopoly.
What did Kazakhstan court authorize?
Koretsky's announcement framed the ruling primarily as a precedent-setting first public foreign-court decision allowing the compulsory enforcement of this specific arbitration award.
He did not name the court, identify Gazprom assets in Kazakhstan, or describe the timeline for any seizure. With the Swiss Supreme Court having made the underlying ruling final on 13 March, no further appeal is possible under Swiss law. The award becomes mechanically enforceable across New York Convention jurisdictions where Gazprom holds assets and where local courts agree to recognize it. Kazakhstan is now the first to do so publicly.
Arbitration behind award
Naftogaz initiated ICC arbitration in Switzerland in September 2022 after Gazprom stopped paying for contracted gas transit volumes through Ukraine.
After the Russian occupation made the Sokhranivka gas-metering station unusable in May 2022, Naftogaz continued transit through the Sudzha entry point.
Gazprom declined to pay for the full contracted volumes, prompting the claim.
On 20 June 2025, a Zurich-seated tribunal, chaired by Switzerland's Urs Weber-Stecher and with co-arbitrators from Sweden and Israel, ordered Gazprom to pay $1.37 billion in principal for unpaid transit services, plus interest and legal costs.
Gazprom did not participate in the arbitration. The Russian company appealed to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, which rejected its request to suspend enforcement in November 2025.
It also dismissed the appeal on the merits on 13 March 2026, at which point the ruling became final and, with accrued interest, exceeded $1.4 billion, Euromaidan Press previously reported.
