Polish anti-monopoly commission fines Gazprom USD 7 billion

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 07 Oct 2020 by Alex Teddy
On October 7 the Russian state gas company was fined in relation to the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline. The Polish authorities said that the pipeline is bad for Polish consumers, is anti-competitive and imperils their energy security. Poland is worried about not getting enough LNG. They believe price hikes are coming, and that EU states will be energy hostages to Russia.Nord Stream goes from Russia under the Baltic Sea and into Germany. Gazprom has a partnership with 5 EU companies to build and manage the pipeline. They are Engie, OMV, Uniper, Shell and Wintershall. They have been fined USD 61 million. The companies were told to withdraw from their contract within 30 days.USD 7 billion is 10% of Gazprom's gross annual income. That is the highest fine that can be imposed.Gazprom has vowed to appeal the decision. It maintains that the decision is unfair and the fine is totally over the top.Gazprom previously disobeyed a Swedish court ruling for two years about paying compensation to a Ukrainian gas company. Gazprom eventually paid out what it had been agreed in abritration.Poland says that the pipeline needed approval from Poland. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection was involved. The 6 companies involved in the pipeline applied for Polish approval. When it seemed this would not be forthcoming they changed their governance model to obviate a need for Polish approval.Poland has already fined Gazprom millions of USD for not cooperating with the investigation.The pipeline has only 10% of its length to go. It is behind schedule. The US has sanctioned companies involved in its construction. Germany has mused about cancelling it due to the poisoning of Navalny. But many G...

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