\Russia filed an appeal against the decision of the Arbitration Group on its dispute with the European Union in the WTO on the Third Energy Package, the Economic Development Ministry said in a statement.
“On September 26, 2018, the Russian Federation submitted its counter-appeal to the WTO dispute settlement department regarding its dispute titled “the EU and its member states – measures against the energy sector “(the so-called Third Energy Package). It concerns the measures the Arbitration Court group decided on and which are not in favor of Russia,” the statement said.
In April 2014, Russia sent a lawsuit to the WTO concerning the legality of the EU’s third energy package. Moscow believes that its provisions contradict the EU’s obligations to the WTO on the basic principles of non-discrimination and access to the market. According to this document, the owners of the main pipelines located on the territory of the EU countries cannot be companies engaged in gas production. They must either sell the assets in the EU, or transfer the right to manage the pipelines to independent companies from the European Union. Meanwhile, the EU claimed that the third energy package fully complies with the EU’s obligations to the WTO.