Gazprom responds to European Commission Statement of Objections

On 22 April 2015, the European Commission published a press release on its  website informing that it had approved the Statement of Objections within the on-going antitrust investigation of OAO Gazprom’s activities in the countries of the European Union (EU).

The announcement said: “The Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to Gazprom alleging that some of its business practices in Central and Eastern European gas markets constitute an abuse of its dominant market position in breach of EU antitrust rules.” 

Gazprom has issued the following statement in response:  “OAO Gazprom considers the objections put forward by the European Commission to be unfounded. It should be noted that the Statement of Objections is only one of the stages within the on-going antitrust investigation and does not amount to finding Gazprom guilty of violating any provision of the EU anti-trust laws.

“OAO Gazprom is rigidly adhering to all the norms of international law and national legislation in the countries where Gazprom Group is conducting business. The business practices of Gazprom Group in the EU market, including the principles of gas pricing, are in full conformity with the standards observed by other producers and exporters of natural gas.

“We expect that within the framework of the on-going antitrust investigation our company’s rights and legitimate interests, rooted both in the EU legislation and the international law, would be taken into consideration. We expect that it would duly noted that OAO Gazprom was established beyond the jurisdiction of the EU, and that it is empowered by the laws of the Russian Federation with special socially significant functions and has a status of a strategic government-controlled business entity.

“OAO Gazprom believes that the settlement would be attained with due regard to the agreement reached earlier between the Government of the Russian Federation and the European Commission to find an acceptable solution to the antitrust investigation on the intergovernmental level.”

Edited from press release by Callum O'Reilly

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/23042015/gazprom-responds-to-european-commission-statement-of-objections-%20635/