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Russia's Gazprom supports amicable pretrial settlement of EC antimonopoly probe

The Russian gas giant is involved in direct talks with the European Commission

BRUSSELS, May 5. /TASS/. Russian gas giant Gazprom supports a mutually acceptable pretrial settlement within the framework of the antimonopoly probe instituted by the European Commission (EC), Russian Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said on Tuesday.

"Gazprom speaks in favor of the mutually acceptable pretrial settlement within the scope of the European Commission’s antimonopoly probe. Meanwhile, it is involved in direct talks with the European Commission," Chizhov added.

TASS reported earlier Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Gazprom Alexander Medvedev will lead negotiations to settle the dispute between the EC and the Russian company under the antimonopoly probe.

On April 22 the European Commission sent the official list of claims within the European antitrust probe to Gazprom. Gazprom has 12 weeks to respond to official list of claims by the EC, the European Union competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said.

EC suspects Gazprom of abusing its leading position in the European gas market, and also has questions to its system of long-term contracts and pricing system.

The official antimonopoly probe was initiated on the basis of complaints of Lithuanian authorities to the EC on September 4, 2012. The investigation is carried out in the Baltic States, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. Under the European law, the penalty for violation of the antimonopoly regulations may reach 10% of the annual turnover of the company on the market.