Gazprom abusing energy position, says EU

The EU has charged Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom energy giant of abusing its dominant position in central and eastern EU nations in an anti-competitive case that will further test tense relations between Brussels and Moscow.

EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Gazprom is strong- arming customer nations ranging from Estonia to Bulgaria, where it sometimes almost fully controls the gas market, by setting unfair pricing and contract restrictions.

Vestager said she was investigating Gazprom’s sales policies throughout most of the EU’s eastern rim and was focused on three key issues: whether the company is preventing cross-border flows of gas to other EU nations, charging unfairly high prices and demanding to keep control of the pipelines in return for gas.