Page 90 - bne IntelliNews Russia Country report May 2017

9.2 Major corporate news 9.2.1 Oil & gas corporate news
Gazprom managed to boost its gas export volumes to Europe by 15% y/y to 35.7bcm in April . The low levels of stored gas in European UGSF explain this dynamic. Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev stated last week that the levels of gas in UGSF are at historical lows, and that this might create additional demand for Russian gas this year, especially given that the indigenous gas production in Europe continues to decline (the largest Groningen gas field in the Netherlands anticipates a further 10% production cut this year to 21.6bcm). The April export numbers look supportive for Gazprom and facilitate good chances of seeing higher gas volumes shipped to Europe this year compared to the 2016 level.
Poland’s PGNiG proposes fining Gazprom for violation of antitrust case
and requires Gazprom to sell share in Yamal-Europe, OPAL gas pipelines but there is no decision yet Polish PGNiG has published its comments on the commitments submitted by Gazprom to settle the EC antitrust case, reports Kommersant. PGNiG has proposed fining Gazprom for violating antitrust laws, as well as requiring it to grant its customers a one-time right to set a price formula in the contract. In addition, it says Gazprom should have to decrease the volumes delivered under the take or pay condition to 75% of total contract volumes and sell its shares in the Yamal-Europe and OPAL gas pipelines as well as the Katharina gas storage facility in Germany. Finally, Gazprom should have to agree on bidirectional gas flows on all interconnectors between the gas grids of Europe countries and members of the Energy Community, including Ukraine, and be required to comply fully with the provisions of the Third Energy Package for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The EC will take a decision based on common market principles and avoid the political component.
The European Commission is finishing a market test of Gazprom’s proposals for settling the antitrust probe on May 6 , Kommersant reports. Bulgaria would accept Gazprom's proposal to settle the case, although it is not fully satisfied with the proposals. The Bulgarian government insists that local companies have the opportunity to change the point of sale to countries in Central Europe. It also emphasises the need to keep direct gas deliveries to the country through the Black Sea. In addition, according to Kommersant's sources, neither Poland nor Lithuania would accept the conditions submitted by Gazprom, while Estonia has already proposed fining Gazprom. Despite some possible negative responses towards the conditions submitted by Gazprom, the EC is likely to take a decision based on common market principles. In April 2015, the European Commission sent an official Statement of Objections to Gazprom for alleged abuse of dominance on the Central and Eastern European gas supply markets. In July 2015, Gazprom and the European Commission reached an understanding that Gazprom might be breaking EU antitrust rules by i) reducing its customers’ ability to resell gas cross-border and ii) imposing barriers for other companies to start supplying gas to Poland and Bulgaria. According to our previous calculations, the potential fine might reach $3.8bn, if the investigation relates to Gazprom’s position in Eastern and Central Europe in 2009-11.
90 RUSSIA Country Report May 2017 www.intellinews.com