Polands PGNiG Says Challenged EU Court Decision That Rejected Complaint Against Gazprom - UrduPoint

Polish state-owned oil and gas company PGNiG has challenged the decision of the European Union General Court that rejected a complaint against Gazprom's antitrust practices, the company said on Thursday.

In February, the EU General Court rejected the suit of PGNiG demanding the annulment of the European Commission's decision on the antitrust case against Gazprom, made in May 2018.

"PGNiG filed an appeal against the February 2, 2022 judgment of the General Court of the European Union, which rejected the company's appeal against the European Commission's 2018 decision accepting Gazprom's proposed commitments aimed at stopping non-market trade practices in EU countries," the company said in a statement.

In 2012, the European Commission initiated an antitrust investigation into Gazprom's activities in a number of EU countries.

In 2015, the commission formally charged the Russian company with violations in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary and other countries.

After long consideration, the European Commission concluded the investigation in May 2018 levying no fines on Gazprom, but imposing a number of obligations, violation of which could incur punitive sanctions of up to 10% of the company's global turnover.

As part of these obligations, Gazprom had to remove barriers to cross-border resale of gas in Central and Eastern Europe. Customers from the region were also given the right to demand lower gas prices from Gazprom if they were not in line with competitive prices in Western Europe.