European Commission Calls Anti-Monopoly Talks With Gazprom ‘Constructive’

The European Commission has given a positive assessment of Wednesday’s meeting between its competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager and Russian energy giant Gazprom, describing their dialogue as open and constructive, a spokesman said.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — Gazprom is suspected of abusing its dominant position in several Central and Eastern European gas markets, namely, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia.

"Commissioner Vestager met today with Mr. Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Gazprom and Mr. Anatoly Yanovsky, Deputy Energy Minister of Russia, for an open and constructive discussion on the Commission's ongoing investigation into Gazprom's practices in Central and Eastern European gas markets," Commission’s spokesman Ricardo Cardoso told RIA Novosti.

The meeting took place at the European Commission’s headquarters in Brussels.

The Russian energy giant has been under investigation over alleged monopolistic practices since August 2012. It faces a $7.6-billion fine, or 10 percent of its 2014 revenues.