...
right after Miller's visit to Athens
“Russia’s
biggest gas utility, Gazprom, was hit with an antitrust case by
European Union regulators for “abusing” its dominant position and
overcharging customers for gas supplies. The investigation against
the Gazprom has been ongoing for 2 years.”
“Gazprom
is under investigation for market dominance in Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and
Bulgaria. The Russian gas major has individual contracts with these
countries that allow company to charge each a different price for gas
supplies. [...] Gazprom’s unfair prices partly result from the
firm’s formula that link gas prices to oil product prices and 'have
unduly favored Gazprom over its customers,' the EC said.”
“The
gas supplier has 12 weeks to respond to the claim and call a hearing.
EU antitrust fines cannot exceed 10 percent of global yearly revenue,
which for Gazprom in 2013 was $164.62 billion, so the EU could hit
the company with a more than $16 billion fine. To compare, Google's
maximum fine is €6 billion. The EU has been discussing the creation
of an ‘energy union’ which would force companies like Gazprom to
sell gas supplies at a fixed rate to the entire 28-nation bloc.”
|
... the failure of selling the
Greek gas company (DEPA) to Russians, was not accidental, since in
this case, Gazprom would have become the basic stakeholder of the
Greek-Bulgarian pipeline IGB, in which the Greek company
participates. And this means that the supply of Bulgaria and
Romania with gas from Azerbaijan would be impossible. The 180
degree turn of European Commission is characteristic, since, while
appeared at the start supporting fully the Nabucco pipeline,
subsequently withdrew its support, since Nabucco was no longer
competitive against Russian interests pipeline South Stream.
|
|
... it seems that Tsipras and
Putin play the game smartly. After Miller's visit in Athens, both
sides made clear that in case of a deal, the new pipeline will be
constructed under full respect of the European legislation, in
agreement with the EU. Miller also referred to European companies
who are interested to participate in this project. Therefore,
lobbyists can be used to increase the pressure to Brussels to
approve the deal.
|
Comments
Post a Comment