The European Commission has carried out unannounced inspections in Germany at the premises of the Russian company Gazprom, which is suspected of raising gas prices in Europe in an abuse of its dominant position.
Russia has been suspected since last year of cutting gas supplies in Europe in a bid to fuel a price hike that has intensified since Russia launched its offensive against Ukraine in late February. The European executive admitted in a press release that, in cooperation with the German competition authority, it had carried out inspections “at the premises of several companies engaged in the supply, transport and storage of natural gas in Germany”.
Brussels has not confirmed that the investigations were aimed at giant Gazprom, but two European sources told AFP that investigations, which took place on Wednesday, concerned the premises of the Russian group and its natural gas sales subsidiary Wingas, Bloomberg first revealed to the agency.
“Unannounced inspections are a preliminary step in investigating suspected anti-competitive practices. The fact that the Commission conducts such investigations does not imply that companies have engaged in anti-competitive behavior and does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation itself.”said the European executive.
Ukraine announced in December that it had filed a complaint against Gazprom with the European Commission, the guardian of competition within the EU, accusing the gas giant “Creating an artificial gas shortage”.
Ukrainian public group Naftogaz has accused Gazprom of “suddenly reducing sales of its gas on the European spot market” while “blocking” supplies from other Russian groups and the transit of gas from Central Asia via Russia to Europe.“This is the main reason for the crisis and the record price increase in Europe”said Naftogaz CEO Yuri Vitrenko.
The war against Ukraine that began on February 24 caused the price of European reference gas to rise even further, reaching an unprecedented high of EUR 345 per megawatt hour on March 7. Since then, it has fallen without ever breaking below the €100 mark on a sustained basis, standing at €125 late morning on March 31 compared to less than €50 a year earlier for the same period.
“Billions for the War”
The conflict has exposed the EU’s extreme dependence on Russian gas, which accounts for 40% of its consumption, and has limited its ability to act vis-à-vis Moscow.
The Twenty-Seven, which have imposed unprecedented sanctions since the beginning of the war, refrained from targeting the gas sector, even though it is a vital source of revenue for Russia to fund its war effort.
Kyiv calls for an import ban on Russian hydrocarbons. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the Netherlands, which has the largest natural gas field in Europe, for such a boycott on Thursday. “so as not to pay billions for the war”during a video conference speech in front of the Dutch Parliament.
But Europe’s largest economy, Germany, as well as Italy and other central European countries, are warning of the deep recession an embargo would bring. She estimates that she won’t be able to do without Russian gas before mid-2024.
Berlin and Vienna on Wednesday activated a contingency plan to manage their deliveries in preparation for a scenario of a delivery halt by Moscow. The assured, however, the German Minister of Economics “Security of Supply” was guaranteed at this point in Germany, where reserves are 25% full. In Austria, the level reached 13% of the storage capacity.
The EU 27 decided last Friday to give the European Commission a mandate to carry out group purchases of gas in order to negotiate cheaper prices. Brussels has set a target of reducing European purchases of Russian gas by two-thirds this year.
The Commission is already negotiating with the main producing countries (Norway, Qatar, Algeria) and has announced an agreement with Washington, according to which the United States should increase its supplies of liquefied natural gas.