Ukraine's Anti-Monopoly Committee Decides to Fine Gazprom $3.4Bln

Kiev seeks to fine Russian gas company Gazprom for alleged abuse of its dominant position on the Ukrainian energy market.

KIEV (Sputnik) — Ukraine's Anti-Monopoly Committee fined Russian energy giant Gazprom 85 billion hryvnia, or around $3.4 billion for alleged abuse of its dominant position on the Ukrainian gas transit market, the committee's head Yuriy Terentyev said Friday.

"A decision was just made regarding the abuse of dominant position on the gas transit market on the territory of Ukraine by company Gazprom. The fine amounts to 85 billion hryvnia," Terentyev wrote on his Facebook page.

In December 2015, Terentyev said Ukraine’s national oil and gas company Naftogaz had estimated that it had suffered damages from Gazprom's alleged abuse of monopoly over gas transit worth $6 billion.

Moscow has repeatedly voiced concerns over Ukraine's reliability as a key transit route. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said last spring that Russia would most likely stop gas supplies through Ukraine when the existing contract expired in 2019.

Gazprom has been working on the projects to construct offshore gas pipelines bypassing Ukraine.