La European Commission he formally accused Gazprom for abuse of dominant position for its business practices in the Central and Eastern European gas markets. According to the European institution Gazprom allegedly implemented an "unfair pricing policy" and also allegedly "hindered cross-border competition" by creating "artificial barriers".
Gazprom reacted to the announcement of the European Antitrust, defining "unfounded" allegations that have been moved to it. "Gazprom - reads a company statement taken up by AFP - scrupulously respects all the rules of international and national laws, of the countries in which it is present".
The news of an imminent indictment of theEuropean antitrust against the Russian energy giant had already circulated in recent days and was also confirmed by the EU competition manager herself, Margrethe Vestager, after the weekly meeting of the College.
“My fear is that Gazprom is infringing EU antitrust rules by abusing its dominant position on EU gas markets. We believe it may have put up artificial barriers to prevent the flow of gas from some central and eastern European countries to others, hampering cross-border competition,” the competition commissioner said, Margrethe Vestager.
Gazprom, explains Brussels, dominates the supply of gas in many countries of Central and Eastern Europe. After the investigation of him the Commission felt that Gazprom hinders competition on the gas supply market in eight Member States (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia). According to the European Antitrust, Gazprom, in the countries listed above, imposes territorial restrictions in its supply agreements with wholesalers and some industrial customers. These restrictions include export bans and clauses requiring the use of purchased gas in a specific territory ('destination clauses').
The Russian company has 12 weeks in order to be able to defend itself against Brussels' accusations.
