Report: EC, Gazprom may announce settlement of antitrust row Fri

MOSCOW, Oct 26 (PRIME) -- The European Commission (EC) and Russian gas giant Gazprom may announce a preliminary settlement of the commission’s antimonopoly case against the company on Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported late on Tuesday citing two sources familiar with the matter.

“…the commission nears a settlement of its antitrust charges against the company, on which a preliminary agreement could be announced as early as Friday, according to the people,” the newspaper reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported citing sources that Gazprom’s Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev may meet Margrethe Vestager, EU competition commissioner, on Wednesday to discuss conditions of a possible settlement of the antimonopoly case.

In August 2012, the European Commission initiated an antimonopoly investigation against Gazprom and officially accused it of violating the E.U. competition rules in April 2015. According to the authority, Gazprom restricted free supplies to E.U. countries by splitting gas markets, preventing diversification of supplies and setting unfair prices.

In April 2016, Vestager said that the commission does not rule out an agreement with Gazprom on antimonopoly claims against the company.

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