Investigators from the European Commission searched the offices of top managers of Slovak gas utility Slovenský Plynárenský Priemysel (SPP) on Tuesday, September 27.
They were looking for documents showing that Russian gas giant Gazprom had forced purchasers of its gas to sign secret contracts limiting competition on the market, the Sme daily wrote on Wednesday, September 28. The inspectors suspect Gazprom of dividing the market with its European partners, as well as of operating a pricing cartel.
Brussels also suspects the Russian company of seeking to prevent reverse flow in gas pipelines. Implementing reverse flow helped Slovakia begin replenishing its supplies using western European sources during the 2009 gas crisis. The EC confirmed that it was making inspections in several companies in the central European region. SPP did not comment on the inspection.
Source: Sme
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
