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EU plans legal action against Gazprom, while its CEO meets Tsipras in Athens

As one of the six primary sponsors of the UEFA Champions League, Gazprom adverts will be beamed o...
Newstalk
Newstalk

15.33 21 Apr 2015


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EU plans legal action against...

EU plans legal action against Gazprom, while its CEO meets Tsipras in Athens

Newstalk
Newstalk

15.33 21 Apr 2015


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As one of the six primary sponsors of the UEFA Champions League, Gazprom adverts will be beamed onto millions of TV screens across Europe over the next two nights - but away from the pitch the Russian gas-giant is facing real challenges as Europe gears up to launch a substantial antitrust case against the company.

Implications...

The European Commission is expected to accuse Gazprom of abusing its dominant position in the natural gas market. This situation is complicated by the fact that the Russian government owns a controlling stake in the company.

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The EU's pending action feeds into a broader raising of tensions between Russia and the EU that has been happening since the onset of the current conflict in Ukraine. Brussels has been investigating Gazprom for three years - officials in Moscow have already claimed that this action is politically motivated.

Allegations of market manipulation in Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Bulgaria are all expected to be mentioned in the commission's statements.

This comes one week after the EU's Competition Commissioner Margarethe Vestager formally accused Google of manipulating European markets.

The EU has the authority to impose fines of up to 10 percent of Gazprom's global turnover - that figure could be as high as €10bn.

In the summer of 2014 Gazprom cut-off part of Ukraine's gas supply after it fell behind on payments - this issue has been left unresolved and there have been further threats to cut off part of the country's energy supply.

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Gazprom's CEO, Alexei Miller is in Athens today to meet with Greek PM Alexis Tsipras. Europe is ripe with rumours suggesting that Gazprom intends to strike a €5bn gas pipeline deal with the Syriza-led government. German magazine Der Spiegel ran a story saying that an agreement had already been reached - Moscow has denied these reports.

When Mr Tsipras met Russian President Vladimir Putin two weeks ago in Moscow the leaders ruled out direct financial assistance - but did say that they would enhance their economic ties through vehicles like joint investment projects.

There is a growing suspicion that Moscow hopes to build the so-called 'Turkish Stream' gas pipeline - an alternative to its scuppered South Stream project. It would transport gas through Turkey and Greece and into Western Europe.


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