On Wednesday 26 October, European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager announced after her meeting with Gazprom that it was now up to the Russian gas company formally to submit commitments to her that "meet the Commission's objectives", in response to the accusations of abuse of dominant position levelled at the producer. The Commission will "then launch a market test to give customers and other stakeholders the opportunity to submit their views". "Of course, all options remain on the table at this stage. We have made progress but there is still quite some work ahead", she said.
The investigation carried out by the Commission last year revealed that the Russian gas company held a dominant position on the gas supply markets in several countries of Central and Eastern Europe, with a market share of considerably more than 50% in some cases and up to 100% in a few. The institution found that Gazprom was hindering competition on the gas supply markets in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia.
If the Commission accepts Gazprom's commitments, they will become legally binding. If it fails to respect them, it risks a fine of up to 10% of its turnover. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)