Ina Considering Lawsuit for Gas Blockade

The Croatian oil company says it will follow examples of other European countries, which is why it has not made a decision about a lawsuit.

The president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, on Wednesday dubbed Russia and Ukraine as unreliable partners and the European Commission made a recommendation to European companies from the energy sector to sue Russian and Ukrainian energy companies. 

Some companies have already announced lawsuits, such as Emfes, Hungary’s largest natural gas distributor, which filed a lawsuit against Ukraine’s Naftogaz at the European Court in Luxembourg. Russia’s Gazprom also announced it would sue Naftogaz to the International Court of Arbitration in Stockholm, while Russia’s President Medvedev asked of Ukraine 1.1 billion dollars in damages incurred by Gazprom due to the Ukrainian blockade of gas.

Officials at the Croatian oil company Ina said the company would act like all other European companies affected by the gas crisis, since the cessation of the delivery of Russian gas was part of the problem on the European level. This is why the company has not yet reached a decision about filing a lawsuit, although it is being discussed.

Gas reserves in Croatia’s Okoli have decreased to some 335 million cubic metres and Ina says that the intervention import of gas would depend on an agreement between Russia and Ukraine, the Jutarnji list daily reported.