Brussels, 17/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - On 16 June, the European Commission cleared a joint venture between A2A Spa of Italy and Gazprom Germania GmbH, a subsidiary of Gazprom. The transaction was notified to the Commission on 7 May 2010 and revealed that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.
PremiumGas is primarily active in the retail supply of gas in Italy. A2A produces, sells and distributes electricity and gas also in Italy. It also supplies heating services, water and waste management in Italy. Gazprom Germania is a subsidiary of Russian state-controlled company Gazprom active in the production, storage and sale of natural gas. Gazprom is active in the exploration, production, transportation, refining and marketing of natural gas and petrochemical products. After examining the horizontal overlap between the activities of A2A and PremiumGas in the retail supply of gas in Italy, as well as the vertical relationship resulting from the joint venture, between the upstream market of wholesale of natural gas and the downstream market of retail gas supply in Italy, the Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would not close off the two markets to competition, given that a sufficient number of competitors would remain. (F.G. transl.fl)