European Commission Official Comments on Alleged Antitrust Violations by Gazprom

On October 3, 2013, Joaquin Almunia, the Vice President of the European Commission Responsible for Competition Policy, stated that the European Union Executive has begun preparing a statement of objections against Gazprom for antitrust violations.  Almunia noted that the European Competition Network has investigated Gazprom's business practices for over a year before preparing the statement of objections, which is a formal step in the antitrust complaint process.  The Commission suspects Gazprom manipulated the supply of upstream gas in both Central and Eastern Europe by hindering free flow of gas, imposing unfair prices on customers, and impeding countries' efforts to diversify their energy supplies.  Almunia did not comment on when the Commission would take further actions against Gazprom.

  

Almunia's Speech from October 3, 2013 is available here: Almunia Speech Transcript

Written by: Tom Panighetti
October 9, 2013