Russia and its Gazprom oil and gas monopoly need to recognize and play by EU rules

Russia and its Gazprom oil and gas monopoly need to recognize and play by the European Union's market rules, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger says.

Oettinger made in the remarks Friday in Lithuania, a country entirely dependent on Russian natural gas imports and which is seeking to spin off ownership of its gas transmission network in accordance with the European Union's energy market reform efforts, the Sofia News Agency reported.

Oettinger told attendees to an energy conference in Vilnius the Kremlin needs to "accept our European Union rules" as it comes under fire for allegedly seeking to limit natural gas supplies and artificially raise prices for its European customers.

Gazprom sets its prices under long-term contracts linked to oil prices, and as oil prices have remained stubbornly high, so have the prices it charges for gas. That means national suppliers have to sell the gas to their household customers at lower retail levels.

That situation prompted the European Union to announce this month it had opened formal proceedings to investigate whether Gazprom was obstructing competition in Central and Eastern Europe, which led to a decree from Russian President Vladimir Putin last week banning Gazprom and other state-owned companies from disclosing information to foreign regulators.

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