Ukraine's higher business court dismisses Gazprom claim against lower court decision on UAH 86 bln fine

Ukraine's higher business court has dismissed a counterclaim of Russia's Gazprom against decisions of lower instance courts that returned without review its claim challenging the decision of Ukraine's Antimonopoly Committee to fine the Russian company UAH 85.966 billion.

An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported that the decision was made on Wednesday.

"The decision of the business court dated April 13, 2016 and the decision of Kyiv's appeal court dated May 18, 2016 in the case are left unchanged, and Gazprom's counterclaim is dismissed," the judge said.

As reported, the Antimonopoly Committee levied the fine on January 22, 2016, after determining that Gazprom had abused its monopoly position in transiting gas through Ukraine. However, Gazprom argues that the Antimonopoly Committee does not have the authority to regulate transit through Ukraine.