The European Commission's antitrust probe against Russia's OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) isn't politically motivated, said Joaquin Almunia, the commissioner for competition.
The European Commission's antitrust probe against
Russia
's OAO
Gazprom (GAZP.RS) isn't politically motivated, said Joaquin Almunia, the
commissioner for competition.
The European Union's executive body earlier this month launched an
investigation into suspected efforts by
Moscow
's
state-controlled energy giant to lock up markets on the bloc's eastern flanks.
"We are not pursuing Gazprom for political reasons but to check if it has
used its dominant position in eight Central and Eastern European
countries," Mr. Almunia told reporters Thursday.
"We have to determine if Gazprom has used its position to create obstacles
for entry of new entities on these markets, obstacles to free flow of gas, or
set unfair prices," he added. "If we find this was the case, we will
have to enforce EU rules accordingly."
Russia
supplies more than a third of the natural gas the EU uses but it is the sole or
dominant supplier to several countries in the EU's east, which before 1989 was
under the
Soviet Union
's control. According to a European Commission
document, Gazprom is suspected of preventing gas exports within EU members and
limiting customer choice of delivery points, as well as tying gas prices to the
price of oil products.
Gazprom said earlier it considered the EU's investigation "pressure aimed
at influencing prices" and an attempt to "solve the economic problems
of the EU, in particular its new members in
Eastern Europe
, at
the expense of
Russia
."
Russia
's
President Vladimir Putin has called the EU's probe "unconstructive."
Polish gas firm PGNiG SA (PGN.WA) took Gazprom to an arbitration court seeking
lower gas prices. The company pays what is sees as excessive prices for Russian
gas, higher than the average prices paid by companies in neighboring
Germany
.
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