Gazprom in EU Antitrust Probe

The European Commission last night announced that it had launched an investigation into Russian major Gazprom and its effects on competition in the market.

The Commission said that the investigation will focus specifically on three suspected anti-competitive practices. This investigation will seek to establish whether Gazprom has had an effect on competition in Central and Eastern Europe and whether it is using its dominance to its advantage to the disadvantage of others.

"The Commission has concerns that Gazprom may be abusing its dominant market position in upstream gas supply markets in Central and Eastern European Member States, in breach of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union," a statement for the Commission said last night.

The Commission says that it will investigate whether Gazprom has hindering the free flow of gas across Member States, whether it has used its position to hinder the diversification of gas supply in Europe and whether it erred in charging unfair prices to its customers through its oil-linked gas prices.

In a statement to Reuters news agency over the phone yesterday, Gazprom spokesperson Sergei Kupriyanov said that the company had no details of the probe.

"Let them investigate," he said.

Gazprom is one of the most dominant suppliers in the European market, particularly to Eastern Europe. As a result of this dominance, several Eastern European countries have sought to diversify supply away from the Russian supplier in recent years, including Poland and Lithuania, which have both launched arbitration against the company.