A Kazakh court has cleared the way for Ukraine’s state energy company Naftogaz to recover $1.4 billion from Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom – the first time a foreign court has formally recognized and permitted enforcement of the arbitration award on the territory of another state. The decision adds to cases of Ukraine’s companies forcing Russia to pay for its illegal actions through international courts and instigating a pursuit of Russian assets to hold Russia accountable for war damage.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The Astana International Financial Centre Court issued its decision recognizing a Swiss arbitral ruling and granting Naftogaz permission to pursue enforcement in Kazakhstan, the company wrote on Tuesday. “The court’s decision in Kazakhstan is another practical result in the process of recovering funds from Gazprom. We are consistently moving forward and working to enforce the arbitration award across multiple jurisdictions. I thank the Naftogaz team for this result,” the press release said, quoting Sergiy Koretskyi, CEO of Naftogaz. The underlying dispute stems from Gazprom’s refusal to fully pay for gas transit services under the 2019 Russia-Ukraine Gas Transit Agreement, which remained in force until Jan. 1, 2025. In May 2022, Russian occupying forces rendered the Sokhranivka entry point inoperable. Naftogaz continued transit through the Sudzha entry point but Gazprom stopped paying in full, breaching the contract.