Gazprom Export has filed a lawsuit in the Arbitration Court of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region against SEFE Marketing & Trading, the former Gazprom trading arm that was nationalised by the German government, Interfax reported on April 1.

The details of the claim were not disclosed in court filings.

SEFE Marketing & Trading was formerly known as Gazprom Marketing & Trading and operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Gazprom Germania. In April 2022, Germany's federal energy regulator placed the company under trusteeship following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and in November 2022, the German government nationalised it outright, transferring full ownership to the state. The EU Commission approved the takeover and a recapitalisation package worth EUR6.3bn.

The lawsuit is the latest in a string of legal actions Gazprom Export has pursued through the St Petersburg court against former European partners and subsidiaries since Western sanctions severed Russia's gas trading relationships.

The same court has issued anti-suit injunctions against multiple European energy companies, including Germany's Uniper, Austria's OMV, Czech firms Net4Gas and CEZ, France's Engie and the Netherlands' Gasunie, barring them from pursuing international arbitration and imposing heavy fines for non-compliance, the Moscow Times previously reported.

In the highest-profile case, the court ruled that Uniper would face a EUR14.3bn fine if it continued its Stockholm arbitration against Gazprom Export.

Gazprom has argued that Western sanctions prevent it from receiving fair legal representation in foreign courts, justifying its use of Russian domestic courts to block international proceedings.

Since its nationalisation, SEFE has repositioned itself as a key player in European energy security, signing long-term LNG supply deals with US firm Venture Global, Oman LNG, Abu Dhabi's ADNOC and US group ConocoPhillips.

The company delivers around 200 terawatt hours of natural gas annually to customers in Germany, the UK and seven other markets.

Germany's economy ministry said in late 2025 that SEFE should terminate its remaining Yamal LNG import contract by invoking force majeure, in line with the EU's 19th sanctions package banning Russian LNG imports.