Ukraine’s Naftogaz sues Gazprom for $6 billion in Stockholm arbitration (Gazprom’s report)

The Ukrainian national energy company Naftogaz is claiming $3.2 billion compensation from Gazprom in a lawsuit filed with the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal for lower gas transit via Ukraine and related interest, according to a report released by Gazprom on Thursday...
Naftogaz’s total claim together with interest amounts to $6.2 billion, the Russian gas giant said in its financial statements for the first nine months of 2014.

The Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal will hold oral hearings on mutual claims filed by Gazprom and Ukraine’s national energy company Naftogaz not earlier than in February-March 2016, the Russian gas giant said in its IFRS financial statements released on Thursday.

Naftogaz filed a claim with the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal on October 13, 2014, seeking to "oblige Gazprom to pay a compensation of $3,200 million (and related interest) to Naftogaz Ukraine for the failure to provide gas for transit," the Russian gas giant’s financial statements said.

Naftogaz also seeks to acknowledge that the transit tariff stipulated in the gas contract with Gazprom "should be revised in such a way as provided in further written statements of Naftogaz Ukraine in line with key principles of the Swedish contractual law," the report said.

Russia’s gas transit to Europe via Ukraine totaled 58.9 billion cubic meters in 2014 compared with 83.9 billion cubic meters in 2013 and 92.2 billion cubic meters in 2009....................http://itar-tass.com/en/economy/77407729/1/15
--
-
Related:

• Russian gas deliveries to Ukraine and EU uninterrupted (Ukraine's Naftogaz)

• No Reason to Revise Gas Deal With Ukraine in April (Alexander Novak, Russian EM)

• Ukraine files lawsuit contest Russian gas pricing

• Stockholm arbitration court combines Naftogaz, Gazprom lawsuits

A dynamite catch - Global Times

 

Two foreign fishing boats suspected of conducting illegal fishing  activities are blown up by the Indonesian navy in Ambon Bay, Indonesia, on Sunday. The destruction of the Papua New Guinea-flagged vessels follows a government ruling requiring the sinking of almost all foreign ships illegally fishing in the waters of Indonesia. Photo: IC
A dynamite catch - Global Times

Fresh lawsuit filed against planned restart of nuclear reactors in Japan

Nine residents filed for an injunction order on Friday to suspend the planned restart of four nuclear reactors in western Japan, local media reported.

The nine people, who are from Fukui, Kyoto and Osaka prefectures, claimed that there is an "actual and looming risk" of nuclear accidents, and requested the Fukui District Court to call off the planned restart of four reactors at Takahama and Oi nuclear plants.

Takahama and Oi nuclear plants are both located in Fukui Prefecture. Both plants' No. 3 and No. 4 reactors are currently undergoing safety screening of the Nuclear Regulation Authority for resuming operation.

The Fukui District Court ruled in May that the Oi nuclear plant shall not be restarted. But another district court made a contradictory ruling last month, rejecting a demand by citizens seeking suspension of possible resumption of Takahama and Oi plants.

Currently, all nuclear reactors in Japan remain offline. Power utilities are desperate to bring nuclear plants back online due to high costs of thermal power generation, while public concerns over nuclear safety are still strong.
 Source: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
5/12/14
--
-
Related:

• Japanese court rejects citizens' demand for suspension of nuclear reactor restart 

• The Otsu District Court on Thursday rejected a demand by Shiga residents to halt the restart of nuclear reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Takahama and Oi plants.

• Japan shuts down last nuclear reactor...

------ 
Related:

• Japan to restart 2 nuclear reactors despite local opposition, safety concerns 

• Japan local assembly okays restart of two reactors

• Japan to reopen 1st nuclear plant after Fukushima disaster - despite volcano risks

• Kagoshima Gov. Yuichiro Ito has accepted the explanation offered by Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yoichi Miyazawa about the government’s plan to restart the Sendai nuclear plant...

• Japan warned on Friday that a volcano in southern Japan located roughly 64 km (40 miles) from a nuclear plant was showing signs of increased activity that could possibly lead to a small-scale eruption and warned people to stay away from the summit....

• New industry minister Yoichi Miyazawa said Thursday he will try to persuade residents near the Sendai nuclear plant in Kagoshima Prefecture why its two reactors should no longer stand idle...

 

Indigenous community clashes with loggers in the Amazon

Trucks filled with timber from illegal logging operations in the Amazon have been stopped in their tracks by an indigenous village protesting the continued exploitation of their lands.
With little or no support from the local or federal authorities, the Pukobjê-Gavião people in Maranhão state, Brazil, are refusing to stand aside as their forests are destroyed by illegal loggers.
The Pukobjê-Gavião have blocked four trucks and a tractor filled with fresh timber from leaving their lands. 
Frederico Pereira Guajajara, a member of the neighboring Indigenous Land “Arariboia”, says he was assaulted as he began filming the Pukobjê-Gavião protests as the trucks were trying to leave their land.

"Loggers beat me on my head, pushed me, broke my phone and wanted to throw me in the fire, but did not because the other Indians started to leave," he said.
The Federal Police were informed of the confrontation by the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) and the Federal Public Ministry.
The police arrived to investigate and seized the logger’s equipment but left the land empty-handed just hours later. A group of 100 people – made up of loggers, according to media reports – barricaded the access road to the territory with burning tires, preventing the police from leaving the indigenous land with the seized machinery.
According to Augusto Gavião – a leader from a village of the same name – the police have since left the area, without giving any notice.
"We are not able to go to the city, because it is dangerous for us. We are being threatened by loggers, they call here and say they will kill us," Gavião said.
"The situation is not resolved. We are waiting for Funai (the Brazilian National Indian Foundation) to contact us again, this time with the prosecutors and police. The trucks will have to be removed from here."
The public prosecutor from the municipality of Imperatriz, Douglas Fernandes, said they are demanding the Federal Police, Funai and Ibama resolve the case. He said the illegal logging of indigenous lands is common practice in the region.
In May 2012, Greenpeace denounced the destructive logging practices in the region – driven by the production of pig iron – the raw material of steel.
An investigative report about the impacts of the pig iron industry was released showing the degrading conditions in this production chain, including invasion of protected areas for illegal logging and charcoal used in the work by slave labour.
Two months after the allegations, the pig iron industry of Maranhão signed a public commitment for zero deforestation in its supply chain. Under the agreement, producers have two years to implement a monitoring system to ensure that none of their suppliers produce coal with wood from native forests or deforestation to plant eucalyptus trees that are turned into charcoal.
Lack of governance and the new Forest Code has made a case for a Zero Deforestation Law in Brazil.
In March, a petition for a zero deforestation law in Brazil was launched.
Just a few months later, over 600,000 people have signed onto the citizen’s initiative.
According to Brazil’s laws, if 1.4 million people support the Zero Deforestation initiative, it could be presented to the Brazilian Congress and become law. Learn more about the Zero Deforestation Law and support Brazil’s call to end Amazon destruction.
greenpeace.org
18/1/13

The future of the Amazon uncertain | Greenpeace International

For ten years, the fate of Brazil’s forests have hung in the balance as the future of the Forest Code has been up for grabs. We’ve see the debate over the law come to a head over the last few years, as the agribusiness sector pressed the Congress for major changes to the law and the scientific community and 80% of the public opposed drastic changes to the law.
Today, President Dilma has ignored the call of the people of Brazil and taken final steps to approve a new law that opens the Amazon up for destruction. 
President Dilma Rouseff announced today, approval of the provisional measures of the new Forest Code with 9 partial vetoes,  making the law that has protected the Amazon for almost 70 years a thing of the past, paving the way for new areas of expansion for the agribusiness sector and granting amnesty for past forest criminals. Vetoes sound like a a drastic measure but in reality they will do nothing new to protect the Amazon. ........The future of the Amazon uncertain | Greenpeace International