MOSCOW, June 6 - Gazprom considers the Stockholm arbitration tribunal's preliminary ruling in a dispute with Ukraine's Naftogaz to be favorable.

"Have you read the ruling? I have and the balance according to this ruling is positive for Gazprom," the Russian gas giant's deputy CEO, Alexander Medvedev, told reporters.

He denied a claim by Ukraine that the tribunal had canceled the gas contract's so-called "take or pay" clause, which was the foundation for the bulk of Gazprom's claims.