Germany's E ON applies to arbitration court to have Gazprom reduce

BERLIN, August 2 (Itar-Tass) -- Germany's energy concern E.ON has
applied to the International Court of Arbitration in a bid to make Russia'
s gas monopolist Gazprom reduce gas prices, Kai Krischnak of E.ON Ruhrgas
told Itar-Tass on Monday.
"We can confirm that we have applied to the court of arbitration over
the term of Gazprom's gas supplies," he said. In his words, under
contracts with suppliers of raw materials, either of the negotiating sides
may apply to court in case price negotiations yield no accord in a certain
period of time. "We would like to go into details," he said and added that
despite the move the dialogue between the two companies will be continued
until a mutually acceptable agreement is reached.
On Sunday, July 31, the German magazine Focus reported with the
reference to the E. ON spokesperson that negotiations between Germany's
E.ON and Russia's Gazprom on a lower gas price under long-term contracts
are about to fail. The magazine reported that E. ON hoped for a lower gas
price under long-term contracts linked to the oil price. The gas market
has much more cheaper offers, the Focus magazine reported. The German
concern hopes to gain a price concession from Gazprom that the Russian gas
major has not agreed to.