MOSCOW, October 10 (RAPSI) - The Kiev Commercial Court will hear a claim by the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) demanding enforced recovery of a 86 billion hryvnia (over $3 bln) fine from the Russian natural gas giant Gazprom, RIA Novosti reported on Monday.

In 2015, Gazprom was fined by the Antimonopoly Committee for abuse of its dominant position on the gas transit market. At that time, the company was ordered to pay the fine until April 12, 2016. According to a company’s representative, this fine was unexpected since the firm was not engaged in business activity within the Ukrainian territory. Gazprom states that natural gas is being sold to Naftogaz on the Russian-Ukrainian border.

In April, the Russian company appealed the fine in the Kiev Commercial Court but the complaint was returned to the plaintiff without hearing. In May, the Kiev Commercial Court of Appeal upheld this decision, and in June the Ukrainian Supreme Economic Court has upheld the lower courts’ rulings.

In late September, Ukraine’s Supreme Court struck an appeal filed by Gazprom challenging the imposed fine. The Supreme Court is a final judicial authority in Ukraine; the next possible step is reference to international courts.