MOSCOW, April 1 (Reuters) - Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom has asked a Russian court to ban Austria's OMV Exploration & Production GmbH from pursuing international arbitration, court documents showed on Monday.

The St Petersburg and Leningrad Region Arbitration Court set April 16 as the date for preliminary hearings.

In December, President Vladimir Putin ordered that Germany's Wintershall Dea and OMV be stripped of multi-billion-dollar stakes in gas extraction projects in Russia's Arctic.

The Kremlin's seizure of foreign assets in Russia came after what Putin casts as a declaration of economic war by the West over Moscow's decision to send thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

Gazprom faces a number of legal battles with European buyers and transmitters of Russian gas and has recently tried to stage its litigations with international counterparts in the local court, which some European companies have deemed illegal.

Gazprom has launched proceedings at the St Petersburg and Leningrad Region Arbitration Court, threatening the European companies with fines if they continue litigation outside Russia. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)