Naftogaz submits proposals to European Commission to minimize Gazprom's influence in Europe

According to the company’s press service, Naftogaz actively cooperates with the anti-monopoly body of the European Commission (Directorate General for Competition) in consideration of a complaint about abuse by Russia’s Gazprom of its dominant position in the European gas market.

“DG Competition began consideration of this complaint at the beginning of the year and has twice asked Naftogaz to clarify some of the arguments set out in the document. Hopefully, this shows that the European Commission intends to thoroughly investigate the causes and circumstances of the gas crisis. We also provided DG Competition with concrete proposals on how to normalize the situation on the gas market now and to minimize Gazprom’s ability to blackmail Europe in the future,” Naftogaz CEO Yuriy Vitrenko said.

According to him, if a complaint against Gazprom had been filed in 2020, Europe could have avoided a deficit and an artificial rise in gas prices, which affects, among others, Ukrainian industry.

Vitrenko stressed that in the face of the threat of further Russian aggression, the struggle for Ukraine’s energy security is becoming even more important.

As reported, the European Commission expects Gazprom to provide answers about the company's behavior in the market.

At the end of December last year, Naftogaz of Ukraine appealed to the European Commission with a complaint about abuse by Russia’s Gazprom of its dominant position in the European gas market. The national company has applied to the DG Competition for immediate action to normalize the situation.

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