Gazprom risks re-opening the antitrust case in EU
Because of Bulgaria’s discontent, Gazprom risks re-opening the antitrust case the European Commission had led against the russian gas export monopoly over suspected abuse of its dominant position in the Eastern European gas market, EURACTIV reports.
The Case AT.39816 – Upstream gas supplies in Central and Eastern Europe is very likely to become part of the new Commission’s agenda.
According to sources in Sofia, Bulgarian state-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz is preparing to ask the Commission to resume antitrust proceedings against Gazprom because of the russian company’s failure to fulfill one of its key promises.
It concerns Gazprom’s commitment to adjust russian gas prices to average market prices in the EU, which had allowed the European Commission to drop the case.
The probe concerned Gazprom’s alleged abuse of its dominance in the gas markets in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.