EU: Gazprom seeks deal with no admission of antitrust breach

Gazprom proposed options for an antitrust settlement with the European Union’s regulator while refusing to admit any guilt, an executive at Russia’s monopoly natural gas exporter said.

“We didn’t plead guilty on any of the items,” Gazprom Deputy Chief Executive Officer Alexander Medvedev said in an interview on Tuesday in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in Russia’s Far East. Gazprom proposed settlement options “that can eliminate their anxiety – without an admission of guilt.”

The state-controlled company on Monday filed its reply to accusations that it wielded market power to impose unfair prices in central and eastern Europe, arguing that the allegations “are based on an incorrect methodology.”

Settlement talks froze last year as political tensions escalated over Russia’s involvement in the Ukrainian crisis. While the conflict has pushed Gazprom to seek new customers, the EU, which gets about one-third of its gas from Russia, remains its biggest market.

“We would very much like these issues not to be politicised,” Medvedev said and declined to comment on a time frame for a possible deal. “The truth will triumph.’

Full content: The Financial Times

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