GPO upholds Gazprom's refusal to write off Chechnya residents' debts

Chechnya's Prosecutor's Office (PO) has unreasonably filed a lawsuit against the Gazprom to write off the debts of local natural gas consumers. The PO has been instructed to support the Gazprom's appeal, the Russian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) has announced.

On January 16, the Chechen PO reported that a Grozny court had obliged the Gazprom to write off the "population's hopeless debts" in the amount of more than 9 billion roubles. The Gazprom has appealed against the court judgement.

The residents of Chechnya and the lawyers interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have stated that the debt writing off would hardly concern ordinary residents.

The limitation term for the debt collection has really expired, but this is not the only condition for debt cancellation, the GPO has noted.

"Such indebtedness is subject to writing off only if it is recognized as unreal for collection. The unreality for collection is defined by the economic entity itself," the GPO has explained.