By Vestnik Kavkaza
In late April, the Antimonopoly committee of the European Commission put forward a formal accusation against Gazprom in violation of law in supply of gas in Central and Eastern Europe. "The division of national gas markets allowed Gazprom to set prices, which we consider unfair at this stage. If our fears are confirmed, Gazprom will have to face the legal consequences of this conduct,’’ said Margaret Vesteger, European Commissioner for Competition Policy of the EU. Gazprom abuses monopoly position in a number of EU countries - Estonia, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia, and is putting pressure in a creation of gas infrastructure in Poland (the gas pipeline Yamal) and Bulgaria ("South Stream ")", vestifinance.ru quotes the European Commissioner.
"In Bulgaria and Poland Gazprom offered unrelated obligations for wholesale prices on gas transport infrastructure. For example, gas supplies were made dependent on investments in pipeline projects or receiving of Gazprom control over the pipelines,’’ it was told in the EC.
However, officials from Gazprom say that company’s principles of gas pricing complies with standards that are used by other manufacturers and exporters of natural gas. Now the Russian gas monopoly, is in talks with the European countries that support the "Turkish stream" around Bulgaria and Ukraine - with Hungary and Greece.
Commenting on the position of Sofia in respect of transit of Russian gas, the deputy chairman of the Duma Committee on Natural Resources, Environment and Ecology, the coordinator of Bulgaria-Russia parliamentary group Alexander Vasilenko said: "I was three years in Bulgaria and already tired to get acquainted with Bulgarian colleagues - a week ago I received a letter that there is another Bulgaria-Russia group, which was elected . At first, they are friendly, but then refer to the European Union. The government of socialists was not very confident while being in power. It seemed that they did not know what to do. It seems, they do not want to confront the Americans, and the country itself has its own interests. "
As for the position of the European Union, according to Vasilenko, the European Commission is becoming a bureaucratic organ more and more, "We used to come to Brussels, and talked to the Belgians, when we were coming to Bulgaria, we were talking to the Bulgarians, today this bureaucracy eats all the independence of these countries . They are trying to create a united front against Russia. "Southern Corridor" is derived from the third package. (Third Energy project of reforms in the field of gas and electricity was approved in the European Union in 2009 and aimed to liberalize the electricity and gas market - ed .) How can this be so? "South Stream" is in our third package, and the "Southern Corridor" is not in the third package. Nobody can explain it. The main reason is bureaucracy, which is building the line on its own well-being."
