Ukraine orders Gazprom to stop breaking antitrust rules

KIEV, Jan 26 (PRIME) -- The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine has ordered Russian gas giant Gazprom to stop violations of antimonopoly legislation within two months, the authority said in a statement on Tuesday.

Earlier Gazprom was fined 85.86 billion hryvnas (about U.S. $3.4 billion), while the company was accused of monopoly abuse on the market for gas transit.

Gazprom said it was astonished by the accusation because the company has no business in Ukraine and pumps gas under a contract with Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz Ukrainy in 2009 until 2019.

The measure followed a $2.5 billion bill sent by Gazprom to Naftogaz Ukrainy for the gas which Ukraine did not use in July–September 2015 but must pay for under the take-or-pay rule, which says that a buyer must pay for the gas regardless of whether it consumed it or not.

In July–September 2015, the minimal annual amount was 10.485 billion cubic meters.

First Deputy Director of the Committee Maria Nizhnik said that Ukraine can go to court asking to force Gazprom to pay the fine if the company does not pay voluntarily within two months.

Kiev has increased transit tariffs for Gazprom by 67% to U.S. $4.5 for 1,000 cubic meters of gas per 100 kilometers recently. Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Minister Vladimir Demchishin said that Kiev will file a suit against Gazprom to the Stockholm Arbitration court if the company refuses to pay for the transit of natural gas under a new tariff.

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