MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. The Court of Appeal in Poland upheld the decision of the court of first instance to annul the fines imposed by the Polish Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) in 2020 on companies involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2, including Gazprom, Polish newspaper Puls Biznesu writes.

According to the report, the court rejected the appeal of UOKiK against the decision of the court of first instance, which in 2022 held proceedings in the case of imposing a fine on Gazprom and five companies (Engie Energy, Uniper, OMV, Shell and Wintershall) for the creation of the company responsible for the construction and operation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, and rejected the financial penalties imposed on them in 2020 of over 29 bln zlotys ($7.2 bln at the current exchange rate) for Gazprom and more than 234 mln zlotys (about $58 mln at the current exchange rate) for other organizations involved in the project.

In 2018, UOKiK launched an investigation into Gazprom and five of its Nord Stream 2 partners. As a result of the investigation, the regulator charged the project's financing with violating Polish antitrust laws. According to regulator, Gazprom entered into a financial agreement with these companies without the prior consent of UOKiK, which could restrict competition.