European Union to File Antitrust Complaint Against Russia’s Gazprom

Bloomberg reported that the European Union will file an antitrust complaint against Russia’s Gazprom (MCX:GAZP) this week accusing the gas giant of overcharging buyers in eastern Europe.

As quoted in the market news:

The EU, which relies heavily on Russian gas, will send a statement of objections to Gazprom that lays out where regulators see possible violations of competition law, according to the official, who asked not to be identified because the decision isn’t public. The EU has been examining whether the company’s contracts unfairly link oil and gas prices and prevent customers from reselling gas.

“What we’re looking at is whether customers are getting the best prices or if a dominant company is using its remarkable strength to get different prices for different customers,” EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager told Bloomberg TV in New York on Monday. “It means quite a lot for a country if it pays more for its gas than maybe it ought to do.”

The complaint would be the second in as many weeks for Vestager, who escalated a probe into search-engine giant Google Inc. The 47-year-old Vestager said last week that she planned to act “decisively against energy companies that harm rivals” and “block energy flows from one EU country to another.”

Click here to read the full Bloomberg report.