The European Commission (EC) has
charged Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom with abusing its dominant market position in Central and
Eastern European gas markets. The decision comes two years after investigations were started by Brussels.
Gazprom now has 12 weeks to respond to the Commission's objections.
The Commission said its preliminary view was that the Russian energy giant was breaking EU anti-trust rules.
Talking to reporters at a news conference in Brussels, European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager criticized the energy giant for demanding higher prices from clients in more dependent markets in southern and eastern Europe, saying that Gazprom was suspected of abusing its dominant position in Poland, Hungary and six more countries.
Banning the resale of Russian gas from
lower-priced to higher-priced customers and closing pipelines and
infrastructure to other suppliers or linking gas deliveries to
investments in infrastructure were among other charges.
"We find that Gazprom may have built artificial barriers preventing gas from flowing from certain central eastern European countries to others, hindering cross-border competition," Vestager said in a statement.
The Russian company could eventually see itself confronted with a fine of up to 10 percent of its global revenues, which could be as much as $17 billion, if it is found guilty. In its first response on Wednesday, Gazprom said the EU's charges were "unfounded", adding that it expected a settlement of the antitrust case in the framework of an agreement reached previously between Russia and the EU.
