Gazprom Says Nord Stream Payments Blocked by Swiss Injunction

Gazprom said a Swiss court has issued an injunction blocking payments from the operators of the Nord Stream gas pipeline as part of a legal dispute between the Russian gas producer and Ukraine's Naftogaz.

All payments from Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG are to be directed to the Swiss bailiffs, Gazprom said in a program for a eurobond issue dated November 9.

Gazprom intends to challenge the injunction in court, TASS news agency quoted Viktor Zubkov, the head of Gazprom's board of directors, as saying.

Zubkov was quoted as saying he hoped the block would not affect the completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that would transport Russian gas to Germany.

In June 2014, Gazprom and Naftogaz lodged multi-billion-dollar claims against each other with the Stockholm arbitration court, which resolves commercial disputes.

Naftogaz claims Gazprom owes it $2.56 billion after a Stockholm court found in Naftogaz's favor following a lengthy legal battle.

(Reporting by Oksana Kobzeva and Vladimir Soldatkin; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin and Tom Balmforth; editing by Jason Neely and Louise Heavens)