ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) – Russian energy giant Gazprom on Friday held constructive negotiations on its anti-monopoly case with EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, Gazprom Management Committee Deputy Chairman Alexander Medvedev said at the International Economic Forum in Russia’s St. Petersburg (SPIEF).
"We discussed the market test results and the further actions with regard to them. We will work, working meetings will take place, then summarizing. Very positively, constructively," Medvedev said.
Medvedev expressed hope that the European Commission would make their judgment on the case soon. However, the deputy chairman did note that the time frame for the decision depended upon the speed of market test mainstreaming work.
In April 2015, the European Commission accused Gazprom of abusing its dominant position in several Central and Eastern European gas markets, namely in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia.
In late 2016, Gazprom provided the European Commission with its final proposals on the case’s settlement. The European Commission granted preliminary approval to these offers and is currently testing the market response. The proposals will not be adopted unless all the concerned parties demonstrate the offers’ acceptability.
SPIEF, which kicked off its three-day run on Thursday, is the key global platform for communication between business representatives and discussion of crucial economic issues that the world faces. Sputnik news agency is the official media partner of the forum.
