EU: Commission to accept Russia’s concessions on Gazprom dispute

The European Union and Gazprom will soon end the ongoing dispute over the dominant and monopolistic position of the Russian company in the Eastern European countries, Reuters reported in an exclusive. The reason is that the Russians have agreed to reform pricing and allow competitors to gain access in the area.

A decision by the European Commission could come as early as this month although the timing could still slip, the people said. A settlement would allow Gazprom to avoid a possible fine of as much as 10% of its global turnover.

The seven-year-old case underlines the rocky relationship between Europe and Russia, which have clashed over Ukraine, Syria and, most recently, a nerve agent attack against a former Russian spy living in England that resulted in expulsions of diplomats on both sides.

Last year, state-owned Gazprom, which supplies a third of the EU’s gas, offered to link prices to benchmarks such as western European gas market hubs and border prices in France, Germany and Italy, and allow price reviews every two years.

The Russian giant also proposed to drop the contractual restrictions, which prohibit the gas recipients from reselling it. Following this, the Bulgarian gas transmission network operator will be able to take over the transmission to Greece.

Full Content: Reuters

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