KIEV: Ukrainian state owned company Naftogaz is suing Russian gas company Gazprom for lost transit fees.

“We demand that Gazprom pay in full,” Naftogaz chief Yuri Vitrenko said in a Facebook post on Friday.

The Russian company has transferred less money since reducing its gas flows as of May. However, the contract signed in 2019 stipulates a minimum transit volume in a clause, which must be paid regardless of the levels of gas actually transported.

The court is located in Zurich. In 2019, Naftogaz had already won the equivalent of over $3 billion from Gazprom before a Swedish arbitration court in a similar case.

Despite Russia’s ongoing invasion, Ukraine has transported over 12.4billion cubic metres of Russian natural gas to the West since February 24, when the attack began.

Then, in May, natural gas transit through the Russian occupied Luhansk region was halted, with Kiev and Moscow each accusing the other of causing the stoppage.

Ukrainian sources say Moscow is reluctant to increase transits through the Sumy region, which is under Ukrainian control.

Every day, a little more than 40 million cubic metres flow into Ukraine and further west through the measuring station in Sumy.