EU Commission has accused Gazprom of competition abuse

​The EU Commission has accused Gazprom of abuse of its dominant position in the gas supply to Eastern Europe. Now the company will either have to agree with the EU or get ready for a large fine.

The European Commissioner for competition issues, M. Vestager, has accused Gazprom of abusing its dominant position, as expected. The company has been sent the statement of objections – the next step in the antimonopoly investigation which might lead to Gazprom’s reconsidering the traditions of its business in the Eastern Europe.

The preliminary assessment of the EU Commission is that Gazprom violates the EU antimonopoly rules separating on purpose the gas market of the Central and Eastern Europe, for example, restricting the possibilities of its wholesale buyers to resell gas to other countries of Europe. Such practice allows Gazprom to charge unfair prices in some European markets. Moreover, the EU Commission suspects Gazprom in illegal connection of gas supplies with the execution by buyers of their obligations not connected with the gas transport infrastructure.