Gazprom OAO (GAZP.RS) must play by European Union market rules and stop charging western and eastern member states different gas prices, EU energy chief Guenther Oettinger said Friday.
Gazprom OAO (GAZP.RS) must play by European Union market rules and stop
charging western and eastern member states different gas prices, EU energy
chief Guenther Oettinger said Friday.
"
Russia
is
our most important partner because of imports of oil, coal, uranium and
gas," Oettinger, the EU's energy commissioner told reporters during a
visit to
Lithuania
,
which has locked horns with Gazprom.
"But what we need is a level playing field. What we need is fair
conditions. In the long term, we should avoid different prices for gas. Gas is
gas. And the gas price in
Berlin
or
Paris
is
much lower than in
Vilnius
,"
he added.
The European Commission--the executive body and competition watchdog of the
27-nation EU--last week announced a probe into Gazprom's actions in eight
member states which were once part of the communist bloc and still rely on
Russian gas.
Besides
Lithuania
, the
countries allegedly affected by Gazprom's practices are
Bulgaria
, the
Czech
Republic
,
Estonia
,
Hungary
,
Latvia
,
Poland
and
Slovakia
.
The investigation centers on Gazprom's use of long-term contracts to lock in
prices that are tied to that of oil--a policy that often leaves its supplies
far more expensive than those available on the open market.
The probe has sparked an angry reaction from Russian President Vladimir Putin,
but Oettinger insisted that
Brussels
simply wanted fair treatment for all E.U. members.
"At the end of the day we want to continue our relationship with Gazprom
on a market-based foundation and equal conditions for all member states,"
he said.
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