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EU and Gazprom should reach agreement in market abuse probe — Fitch

Fitch did not include any monetary penalties into its outlook when assessing the influence of this factor on the company’s credit rating

© AP Photo/Kai-Uwe Knoth

MOSCOW, August 24. /TASS/. The European Commission and Gazprom will reach an agreement within the framework of the EC’s market abuse probe against the Russian company, international rating agency Fitch Ratings said on Monday.

"While the case's ultimate outcome for Gazprom may take years to become known, we expect Gazprom and EU to reach a pragmatic agreement as Gazprom remains very important to Europe's energy supply," Fitch said.

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Fitch did not include any monetary penalties into its outlook when assessing the influence of this factor on the company’s credit rating, the rating agency said.

ASS reported earlier on April 22, 2015 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.

The 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.

The next talks between Gazprom and the European Commission are scheduled to the second half of September 2015.

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Oil & Gas Gazprom European Commission

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