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EU Formally (And Spitefully) Files Anti-Trust Charges Against Gazprom
With talks between Greece and its creditors expected to go mostly nowhere in Riga later this week, and with speculation about an energy deal between Athens and Gazprom looking less like speculation and more like reality with each passing day, we’ve suggested that it's only a matter of time before Russia officially becomes Greece’s White Knight by providing a cash advance on the gas deal.
Greece has recently taken to seizing local government cash reserves to pay the bills (including pensions and salaries) and with the ECB reportedly considering 50% haircuts on collateral pledged for ELA by Greek banks (the same Greek banks which FinMin Varoufakis said yesterday were “adequately capitalized”), Athens could sure use the cash, and as we enjoy pointing out, it’s an all-around win for the Kremlin as cash given to Greece will be used to make debt payments to the IMF which is set to deliver a €2 billion tranche of aid to Kiev in June, and that bailout funding will promptly be funneled right back to Russia via payments to Gazprom.
As a reminder, here’s a map of the Turkish Stream pipeline…
...and here’s the complete payment schedule for Greece:
None of this is good news for Europe as grappling with a Grexit (and any redenomination risk-fueled contagion that goes along with it) while simultaneously having to swallow a Russian pivot by Athens is a decisively undesirable outcome to the whole debacle, and so, as previewed here on Monday, Europe is going the spite route by filing antitrust charges against Gazprom.
Here’s WSJ:
“All companies that operate in the European market — no matter if they are European or not — have to play by our EU rules,” the bloc’s antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
The Gazprom investigation, which began 2½ years ago, had been moving toward a settlement early last year, but stalled after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March last year. EU officials had worried that filing charges against the Russian company would be interpreted by the Kremlin as a political act.
In a statement Wednesday, the EU said it had reached the preliminary view that Gazprom was hindering competition in the gas-supply markets in eight EU countries-—Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia.
Gazprom “may have built artificial barriers preventing gas from flowing from certain Central Eastern European countries to others, hindering cross-border competition,” Ms. Vestager said.
And a bit more from Bloomberg:
Settlement talks with Gazprom froze as tensions escalated over Russia’s actions in Ukraine, where it annexed the Crimea region and was accused of supporting an insurgency that’s threatened to split the country apart. Power politics seeped into the case from the start after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree giving the government the right to protect Gazprom from EU inquiries.
“This will certainly not improve the EU-Russia relations,” said Paul Ivan, a former Romanian diplomat who is now an analyst with the European Policy Centre in Brussels. “We can expect angry answers and moves from the Russian side, but it will not shatter relations either.”
The statement of objections accuses Moscow-based Gazprom, which supplies more than a quarter of the bloc’s natural gas, of pursuing an unfair pricing policy in Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The commission said the territorial restrictions imposed by Gazprom may result in wholesalers facing prices that are significantly higher than the company’s costs or benchmark rates.
These unfair prices result partly from Gazprom’s price formulas that index gas prices in supply contracts to a basket of oil product prices and have unduly favored Gazprom over its customers, the EU said.
Gazprom responded by saying the complaint isn’t final and that it expected there’d be a solution with the help of Russian government.
“The case is definitely political,” said Alexander Kornilov, a senior oil and gas analyst at Alfa-Bank in Moscow. He estimates a potential fine at as much as $840 million.
Here's what the European Commission imagines "alleged abuse" of one's dominant position in the market for natural gas might look like:
Summing up, it’s power, politics, and energy on full display with Grexit and the crisis in Ukraine as the backdrop. If only there were a way to strip Gazprom’s leverage over Europe…
* * *
Here is the official statement from the European Commission:
Antitrust: Commission sends Statement of Objections to Gazprom for alleged abuse of dominance on Central and Eastern European gas supply markets
22 April 2015
The European Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to Gazprom alleging that some of its business practices in Central and Eastern European gas markets constitute an abuse of its dominant market position in breach of EU antitrust rules. See Factsheet for further details.
On the basis of its investigation, the Commission's preliminary view is that Gazprom is breaking EU antitrust rules by pursuing an overall strategy to partition Central and Eastern European gas markets, for example by reducing its customers’ ability to resell the gas cross-border. This may have enabled Gazprom to charge unfair prices in certain Member States. Gazprom may also have abused its dominant market position by making the supply of gas dependent on obtaining unrelated commitments from wholesalers concerning gas transport infrastructure.
Gazprom now has 12 weeks to reply to the Statement of Objections and can also request an oral hearing to present its arguments. The Commission will fully respect Gazprom's rights of defense and carefully consider its comments before taking a decision. Sending a Statement of Objections does not prejudge the final outcome of the investigation.
EU Commissioner in charge of competition policy Margrethe Vestager said: "Gas is an essential commodity in our daily life: it heats our homes, we use it for cooking and to produce electricity. Maintaining fair competition in European gas markets is therefore of utmost importance.
All companies that operate in the European market – no matter if they are European or not – have to play by our EU rules.
I am concerned that Gazprom is breaking EU antitrust rules by abusing its dominant position on EU gas markets. We find that it may have built artificial barriers preventing gas from flowing from certain Central Eastern European countries to others, hindering cross-border competition. Keeping national gas markets separate also allowed Gazprom to charge prices that we at this stage consider to be unfair. If our concerns were confirmed, Gazprom would have to face the legal consequences of its behaviour."
The Commission's preliminary findings in the Statement of Objections
Gazprom is the dominant gas supplier in a number of Central and Eastern European countries. In light of its investigation, the Commission's preliminary view is that Gazprom is hindering competition in the gas supply markets in eight Member States (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia). The Commission finds that Gazprom implements an overall abusive strategy in these gas supply markets, in particular:
Gazprom imposes territorial restrictions in its supply agreements with wholesalers and with some industrial customers in above countries. These restrictions include export bans and clauses requiring the purchased gas to be used in a specific territory (destination clauses). Gazprom has also used other measures that prevented the cross-border flow of gas, such as obliging wholesalers to obtain Gazprom’s agreement to export gas and refusing under certain circumstances to change the location to which the gas should be delivered. The Commission considers these measures prevent the free trade of gas within the European Economic Area (EEA).
These territorial restrictions may result in higher gas prices and allow Gazprom to pursue an unfair pricing policy in five Member States (Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland), charging prices to wholesalers that are significantly higher compared to Gazprom’s costs or to benchmark prices. These unfair prices result partly from Gazprom's price formulae that index gas prices in supply contracts to a basket of oil product prices and have unduly favoured Gazprom over its customers.
Gazprom may be leveraging its dominant market position by making gas supplies to Bulgaria andPoland conditional on obtaining unrelated commitments from wholesalers concerning gas transport infrastructure. For example, gas supplies were made dependent on investments in a pipeline project promoted by Gazprom or acceptingGazprom reinforcing its control over a pipeline.
The Commission's provisional findings are that these practices constitute an abuse of Gazprom's dominant market position prohibited by Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Such behaviour, if confirmed, impedes the cross-border sale of gas within the Single Market thus lowering the liquidity and efficiency of gas markets. It raises artificial barriers to trade between Member States and results in higher gas prices.
Background
The Commission opened formal proceedings against Gazprom on 31 August 2012.
Gazprom is the dominant natural gas supplier in all Central and Eastern European countries, with market shares well above 50% in most, and in some countries up to 100%.
Article 102 TFEU prohibits the abuse of a dominant market position, which may affect trade between Member States. Implementation of this provision is defined in the Antitrust Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003), which can be applied by the Commission and by the national competition authorities of EU Member States.
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So what? The EU calls Gazprom a cartel and its abusing its market condition, the Russians shrug their shoulders, flip the Commission the bird, send out the next gas bill, & go take a Eucalyptus Sauna and Vodka break.
germany recently ordered 100 tanks .... tanks do not mix well with sauna and vodka...
Russians know how to deal with german tanks....
Damn t, why don't these antsy Europeans just stop buying Russian gas? No, wait.............
Russia should just shut off the gas, forever.
Spring is in the air, so attack Gazprom. Expect this to be resolved with hugs & kisses in the fall as they beg for a good price for winter heat.
Here's a good analysis of Putin's game plan, worth a read:
What does Putin want? A major analysis by Rostislav Ishchenko (must read!)Foreword by the Saker:
The analysis below is, by far, the best I have seen since the beginning of the conflict in the Ukraine. I have regularly posted analyses by Ishchenko on this blog before, because I considered him as one of the best analysts in Russia. This time, however, Ishchenko has truly produced a masterpiece: a comprehensive analysis of the geostrategic position of Russia and a clear and, I believe, absolutely accurate analysis of the entire “Putin strategy” for the Ukraine. I have always said that this conflict is not about the Ukraine but about the future of the planet and that there is no “Novorussian” or even “Ukrainian” solution, but that the only possible outcome is a strategic victory of either Russia or the USA which will affect the entire planet. Ishchenko does a superb overview of the risks and options for both sides and offers the first comprehensive “key” to the apparently incomprehensible behavior of Russia in this conflict. Finally, Ishchenko also fully understands the complex and subtle dynamics inside Russian society. When he writes “Russian power is authoritative, rather than authoritarian” he is spot on, and explains more in seven words than what you would get by reading the billions of useless words written by so-called “experts” trying to describe the Russian reality.
http://thesaker.is/what-does-putin-want-a-major-analysis-by-rostislav-is...
Do those German tanks run on Russian gas?
Oh yes, the Russians know how to deal with german Panzers. First they shit themself and then turn around and run like hell.
So you were born when? Just curious, because quite a bit has changed since WWII. Perhaps you've heard of this fascinating new technology, it's called the Internet.
Wow. That's the other end of the IQ scale, folks. It was all conjecture and theory until now.
most stupid comment...
100 additional German tanks aren't for the Russians. Good luck getting 3 German guys into 100 German tanks to face off with Russia's 13,000. Would never happen. 100 additional tanks are for immediate closure of American military bases in Germany when the US and the Russians decide its time to start WWIII and Germany decides to sit this one out.
Germany is occupied territory, it doesn't decide anything substantially and must be contend with the role of minor sheriff. Ask the Greeks.
Germany is occupied territory. This is correct. However, as soon as Washington orders Berlin to go after Moscow again -- watch how quickly Berlin decides its had enough of being a colony.
I hope you're correct. Regards,
Me too.
Germany's ultimate success or failure is completely dependent on this choice.
If Germany goes after the Russians again, it will be the end of Germany.
If Germany decides to sit this one out, all the draft dodgers and the girlfriends will relocate to Germany to avoid the incoming shitstorm. The losers (aka any country found between Germany and Russia) will be completely destroyed, and many of these people will decide its better to stay in Germany than go back to a destroyed country. Germany uses the "let your enemies fight one another and you come out on top" tactic employed by the British and Americans against the Germans for thep ast 150 years against them. Germany's demographic problem gets solved, its new immigrants are essentially more blondies (it'll make the PEGIDA people shut-up) and comes out on the other side materially stronger.
Germany got thrown under the bus by London, when they played their great game of National Socialism V Socialist Communism.
National Socialism won, in the end, but Germany lost out.
Next up is the great game between National Socialism and oh, more National Socialism. I guess once TPTB decided which model worked best to keep people in line all that was left was to wittle down the numbers. I have no idea if Germany gets to survive the destruction of this round.
Are there any Red Shield banks left in the Fatherland? That will probably answer the question.
I am sure there are. I have no idea, TBF.
I can't think of anything that would cause the capitulation of a German government faster than ordering an attack on Russia. I would imagine they would be out of office faster than the entire Bundeswehr turns in their "Conscious Objector" resignations. Believe me -- that second one would happen essentially instantly. No one -- and I mean no one in Germany has any desire to fight the Russians ever again.
Shoot, you have a German government order an attack on Russia, I imagine there would be a militar coup de etat in Berlin before nightfall.
Seriously, thats like the only thing I can even remotely imagine that would get Germans of all ages out into the streets screaming bloody murder and having a revolution French style.
Fatuous, really a fatuous comment
Irony in action here ladies & gentlemen.
The entire shootin' match over there has always been, and will ultimately boil down to, Germany's decision (or not) to run its own Foreign Policy, sans Diktat from the State Department. It's all noise until Ramstein 'downsizes' - permanently.
I sure dont hope the Germans would think of Denmark as an escape resort in the event of a conflict with the east, Denmark is very small, I fear it may capsize...
This comment gives me a rare glimmer of hope. I've never thought about this, and you make a good point. The cultural scars in Germany of having attacked Russia and been destroyed for it are deep. To overcome that fear of self-destruction would be a monumental task. Even TPTB may not be capable of this. Thanks for a hopeful thought.
I'm not saying TPTB won't attempt this -- but there is not a chance in hell that you could get Germans to fight the Russians again. You'd have to nuke a city HERE to demand some form of response.
I just see this as an impossability.
Why should Germans fight Russians ? There are so many Russian families living in Germany, decent people nice families. Why don't the Americans invade Mexico ?
some just firmly believe in WW3, soon. ergo they wonder about where and who, having already decided on what and when
I am no tin-foil hatter, but if Russia does get activly involved in Ukraine, the US will be forced to either respond or not.
If it doesn't repond, its guarantees are made worthless.
If it does respond, its WW-III. Germany is too big of an American ally to let them sit out. The US would have to get Germany involved, either directly or indirectly.
Germany, like Sandmann so correctly states -- has no reason to fight the Russians. Lots of good Russian people here in Germany. Thus, Germany would have to make a decision right then and there as to what to do.
First we have to get rid of Merkel. She is decision-uncapable.
And bribed or blackmailed, as I wrote before.
Very many Germans in Russia, even since Great Katerine..
I freelance over th? internet and earn about 80-85$ an hour. I was without a job for 7 months but last month my paycheck with big fat bonus was $15000 just working on my computer from my home for 5-6 hours. Here's what i have been doing... www.globe-report.com
Gazprom can just switch off the pipe if it really wanted to show it was dominant. Either that or start proxy wars killing thousands like the west does
Nothing ever changes: "the best laid plans..." and "each generation learns anew..."
Amazing all the same.
Fuck the EU and Fuck the U.S. Both are dictatorships. Sincerely, U.S. Resident.
sincerely, I doubt you even know what you are talking about
meanwhile, Tylers: spite? the whole thing is much simpler: antitrust
the word that disappeared from the US vocabulary?
being the dominant gas deliverer is one thing. messing around with pipelines, a completely different matter
there is no reason why Gazprom should be in both markets, NatGas and critical pipelines
as for net-neutrality... pipeline-neutrality.
that simple, except if you are a (paid) Monopolist-lover or a sympathizer of all things remotely having some "anti-EU" thing attached, regardless of merit
Gazprom is in it to take advantage of it. Duah!
Good luck conviencing the Russians to Split Gazprom in half to appease the EU-weenies. What is the EU going to do? Not purchase anymore gas? lol
the way you describe it, it's sufficient to become a monopolist and then the world is your oyster, and depends totally from you
and, as monopolist, you can count on legions of "might makes right" supporters ready to attack any anti-trust measure as "anti-business"
thanks, but no, thanks
pipeline neutrality is not that difficult as a concept
meanwhile, note that there are damn wars going on about who gets to deliver gas to Europe, and so to your water-boiler in your bathroom in Frankfurt
My hot water heater is in my laundry room. I don't live in a prolet Studentenwohnung anymore. ;)
Pipeline neutrality in this case does not mean pipeline neutrality, but it translates into "Getting Gazprom to pay to build the pipelines while the EU gets to control them."
For egregiously obvious reasons, even you should know the Russians will never go for this.
that translation is wrong. Gazprom could, for example, just sell them. To a different Russian company, for example
you can wind sideways as much as you want, Gazprom IS playing with the control of those pipelines
for example by telling customers that they are not allowed to sell further what they are delivered
Any reason EU cannot build its own pipes?
the usual one: redundancy isn't economical
is there any reasons net- neutrality proponents can't build their own internet?
Then let EU be the one who build the pipes eveyone can use.
More proof (if needed) that EU is run by morons ! In about 2 years this entire discussion will be moot, since the only point of delivery available (beyond Germany) will be at Greece's border with Turkey. Then, it will be back to take it or leave it. Of course, by then EU will be even more FUBAR than it is now, so the entire idea of paying for Russian gas will look slightly ludicrous. The only people with money to pay for gas are the Germans anyway, and they had the brains to get their own independent pipeline... Others, not so much !
Btw, why don't the EU sue the USA for the internet dominant position? It's a serious question.
No, no one calls that box in your bathroom that makes strange noises that a cute little blonde from the Stadtwerke comes to check on once a year a "water boiler." It is a hot water heater.
Unless you are talking about something else.
Brits do call several things differently from you
"A lorry delivered my new hot water boiler", for example
Your language... Our problem
BWah, the British cannot speak the English language correctly.
yadda yadda, and the Ukranians siphoning unpaid gas and not paying their bills has NOOOOOTHING to do with this...
Ukraine isn't in the EU. So no, it is related, but not directly
a lot of commenters here seem to look everything through the geopolitical lens only, and miss some of the dephts of the current EU anti-trust initiatives. Anti-trust is one of the tasks of the EU org
remind us all the route the gas takes to get there
remind us all how many EU countries are spouting the garbage about "russia's actions in ukraine"
but of course it would have been too much to ask them to pay their bill or stop stealing gas.
and how's about the other pipelines? oh wait, they're from russia, so we dont want them?
EU anti trust is a joke, its built upon the foundational Trust of banksters
so once again, all back to the same root.
the One Trust wants no other Trusts to deal with.
Anti-trust is one of the tasks of the EU org
---------------------------------
and that one, rather quaint, isnt it? that's rather like having a fox to keep other foxes out of the henhouse.
Ez getting kind of cocky now that winters over, eh?
I made comments in December, January, February and March of both years. you can check in the ZH archives yourself
EZ isn't EU, btw
Fucking around with pipeline? Like what, refusing to have the deal changed by the EU so that the EU is in a positiion to control the flow of gas owned by Gazprom? Having Gazprom pay for the majority of the pipeline but not control it? Having the EU politically sabotaging pipeline transit deals? What exactly is Gazprom guilty of doing here?
Fuck the EU and the dipshits that want to play their fuck-fuck games with everyone. Let the EU find and process their own gas then. Funny how they are now willing to play these games when spring is in the air.
"What exactly is Gazprom guilty of doing here?"
you'd have to read the article. mo-no-po-li-sm
the EU does not play games. it sets the rules for them
in the US, this kind of thing was normal, once upon a time
The Earth is the monopoly. It did not distribute gas equally.
Whose monopolism? Neither you nor I is personally entering into long term purchase agreements with Gazprom. Big Oligarch Businesses with deep ties to EU political machinery are entering into long term purchase agreements with Gazprom.
Unfortunately, we do not have specifics (customer names, dates, prices, volumes, duration, and other applicable terms) - only press releases: http://ec.europa.eu/competition/elojade/isef/case_details.cfm?proc_code=...
So here are some hypotheticals:
If the Ghordius Gas Utility (with an actual monopoly on gas supply to the peasants within its dominion) wanted to buy 100 fucktons of gas per month for ten years from Redneck gas, you would probably want a hefty discount from the spot price. So there is go to be lot of professional haggling, bean counting, and tax law and treaty review before we settle on a final price formula... And since you are buddies with SuperMario over at the ECB- your borrowing costs are cheaper than mine when I call my friends at GazpromBank. Furthermore, if you help pay for my next pipeline with your easy credit, it not only saves me money, but you get a tax deduction for the CapEx.
Now where it gets a bit "messy", is that a few years ago when oil was well over $100 and gas was a lot higher too, I lucked out on a long term contract with the Poles, because the guy they sent to the negotiating table made Ukies look smart and was coincidentally the same guy who was putting screen doors on their submarines, but it was a fairly negotiated deal. Now you want to buy MY gas at cheaper market prices, and use MY pipeline that I paid for out of my own profits to ship MY gas to the Poles, and cut ME out of profits that I would otherwise expect under an existing contract? Go get your own gas from somewhere else, you can still use my pipeline (per those obnoxious EU rules) but if you want to buy MY gas, don't use MY gas to screw ME.
Without details, we are in the dark. But there probably dozens of traders, lawyers and bankers on both sides who could write volumes on the subject. And now they will be writing volumes... unfortunately, with specific political and legal motivations.
Russia should cancel all the pipelines and just let Europe bid for LNG tankers
ah, LNG Terminals and tankers. well done. now check how much both the UK and France invested in both, in the last ten years. otherwise that harebrained scheme of supplying Europe from the US could not even have flown two centimeters
that was my point. :)
cake, gas, whatever.
At the current price you have to be a complete idiot to buy LNG. More proff that EU is run by morons, but then that's not exactly news...
You are funny. Nobody forces any EU country to buy from Gazprom, same about price. Why aren't these countries buying their gas from Austria, Germany, France, Spain or Italy?! What, they have no gas to sell? Maybe they could buy from the US, their friend? What, not possible? Maybe they could just buy it from the others EU members. Grrr, still not possible! You always try to bring the "nuanced" angle but there is no other angle possible here. Sadly you missed a very good opportunity to shut up.
what part of "Article 102 TFEU prohibits the abuse of a dominant market position, which may affect trade between Member States" did you not understand?
LOL - you still believe in the rule of law in this world. That is so 80's thinking... maybe early 90's at best. Welcome to the New Feudal World Order serf.
Isn't this treaty between EU member states making the Russian Federation a 3rd party to it? If so, how is it in any way or shape opposable to the Russian Federation?
2nd of all this is not a dominant market position in the traditional sense of the word (we're not talking about several suppliers that conspired to corner the market) but its the damn REALITY (GAZPROM is the only entity that can bring the goods to the consumer, like it or not). And the EU decided to sue them and you're trying to justify it.
I like hearing reasoned arguments from both sides. One side will almost always have a weaker hand. Debate should be welcome as another form of reasoning. I get a little tired of pithy comments from the majority of Zerohedge commenters.
I try to make mine pithy so as to minimize the burden on you.
Double post
Good, then let the Europeans build a pipline to the Greek-Turkish border to pick up their gas. Problem solved.
Good, then let the Europeans build a pipeline to the Greek/Turkish border and pick up their own gas. Problem solved.
One of these days : "World Formally (And Spitefully) Files Anti-Trust Charges Against the USA reagrding the $"
Lawsuits=Jewfest
huh? filing an anti-trust suit against a foreign supplier which they have zero control over. yea, sounds like a winner to me. The EU courts decide that the EU wins, so russia, complying with their desires . the end.
are you hereby accusing the EU Commission of having... courage? in the sense of way to much of it?
I remember two freaking winters here on ZH with comments of the like of "Gazprom switches off and Europe freezes"
zero control would be if Gazprom would use magic. but it uses pipelines on the territory of EU countries
meanwhile, Russia and Russians use EU courts, too. explain that
ECtHR isn't a real judicial system. Don't fool yourself.
Firstly here is your man Ponomarev ( you're calling his theories legit the other day ) : http://www.globalresearch.ca/did-a-russian-parliamentarian-just-commit-t...
"you're calling his theories legit the other day"
did I? can't remember. first time I hear of Ponomarev
present a link
You did when element quoted his article and you said in his defense that he always present facts . Well yes certainly a traitor insider russia whom russians barely trust becomes a legit source for truth to many of you . Funny . Thats why west go in shock when they don't see russia falling despite their media claims .
there is a fine line between:
"Element presents facts" and
"Element presents always facts"
I myself presented things I took for full facts... and later found out they weren't, btw
meanwhile, you seem to be quite... partisan. is the part you are cheering for completely blameless of any human stain? I doubt it, btw
further, I'm not "the West", and believe it or not, know a bit Russia, Russians and their propensity of looking very bad for Westerners, particularly journalists paid to do so
but I'm wasting your time. the very use of "traitor insider... whom russians barely trust..." does not give me much hope for you
" does not give me much hope for you" . whatever helps you mate no one can make you think . If you want to accept distorted facts as truth barely anyone can help you .Gazprom increased price for particular states as mentioned in article . But when they did ? Because they decide price beforehand and revise it yearly .Talking about Monopoly , care to look within your union first perhaps .
Read this : Russian letterone, who recently purchased offshore british wells, is being forced to sell its wells or face license revoke. So I suppose british companies in Russia should be subjected to the same?
British government pukes. World Trade my arse. WTO is a farce.
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150420/1021135948.html
When EU does it ain't monopoly isn't it . You're wasting your own time actually .
WTO is a farce, on that I agree
meanwhile, the pricing thing is only a handle. The main issue is pipelines
as I wrote: pipeline neutrality. That simple
suit yourself
They are not going to get it. The EU still supports State TV funded by compulsory levies across the EU because it wants State TV for its own purposes. It wrecked railways and Post Offices by separating rolling stock from rails and thinks it can split gas transmission from supply - it worked well in UK where Hong Kong Electric owns gas transmission in North of England and Warren Buffett owns electricity transmission and maintenance is dire.
The EU is a theoretical nonsense which cannot play this game without damaging European business. It is happy to have money transmission in the hands of bankers and credit creation but interferes ad nauseam in industrial decisions where billions in CapEx is required to make things happen.
Britain has destroyed N Sea Oil through greed and interference, the EU forced countries into gas as part of this Global Warming crap and away from coal now starts to attack gas.....they will make it impossible to do business inside the EU and boost Turkey and Russia immensely. Just move your energy intensive business - chemicals, glass, etc to Russia
so do eu courts . Your pipeline neutrality is not that simple . Let me explain your neutrality to others: Europe wants to play a leverage game in cancelling Turk stream too so that russia remains stranded with its pipeline passing through ukraine and failed kiev regime can take advantage of it . Thats how you gonna solve a dispute between two parties ?
The different EU countries are charged a different price according to how much gas they use - the higher the usage the lower the price. Each country also receives an offset for transit fees of gas through their country. This deal is based on the concenpt of no resale of imported gas. The countries paying a lower price want to sell some extra gas to the higher price countries undercutting Gazprom. Combined with the transit fee offset, this would result in a double loss for Gazprom.
One solution - all countries pay the same rate somewhere between the lowest and highest value.
Europe is trying to play a leverage game in cancelling Turk stream too so that russia remains stranded with its pipeline passing through ukraine and your supported regime of a failed state can take advantage of it . How convenient . It ain't courage .
plus they are hoping Assad's luck runs out in Syria and then can go forward with the Qatari Pipeline and then tell Russia to get stuffed.
I wonder if PUtin would send in paratroopers in to keep Assad from falling
"We find that it may have built artificial barriers preventing gas from flowing from certain Central Eastern European countries to others, hindering cross-border competition. "
Who could they be talking about? WHO?
I'm game.
Lichtenstein
Andorra
Bulgaria
Freedonia
Do I win?
Dear Gazprom, just turn off the gas so that you cannot be charged with "anti-trust" in EUZ as then you'll not be doing any business in EUZ. Give them what they want.
Sever the supply contract. Watch them shit their socialist pants. We close down manufacturing plants in US, when jackass unions go on strike.
Another example, Walmart closing store's over employees demanding higher wages to scan a product over a reader, then ask the customer to swipe his card. That's a $2.00/hr wage. Little do they know, the self checkout lanes will replace their necessity.
$2/hr?!? So you believe that people that are willing to work shouldn't be able to afford to live? Let me guess, you believe all the commodity financial futures contracts are a good thing and promote price discovery, right?
This is like fining Apple and Android for dominant positions in cell phones. There is nothing stopping those 8 countries from building their own pipelines or buying LNG. Its not like interest rates are too high? Several of those countries have some natty gas - but instead banned Fracking! And of course, any fine imposed by the EU is only going to come back as higher prices - paid by those 8 not-as-well-off EU countries!
like trying to stop smoking, let smokers pay 7$-10$/pack. tabacoo execs still laughing.
That absurd price made me quit tobacco. Now I save money by smoking marijuana instead......and I am happier for it!!!
That was never a problem in the past. Even during the SU times there was gas suply to the Western Europe and I am sure the pipelines back then were not open to competition. Europe still has an energy problem and pissing Russia off won't solve that. Perhaps it fits into this plan? :http://www.b92.net/eng/news/world.php?yyyy=2015&mm=04&dd=22&nav_id=93879
Anyway, winter is over so they can play this game now. They would not have done it half a year ago.
Guess the EU doesn't want any Russian nat gas. Oh well, let's just switch that off then....
Spiteful is not appropriate after Putin's Ukraine caper that jeopardises the Euro Eastern front.
EU is now caught in the new cold war between Pax Americana and the Eastern Pivot Axis.
Talking about the Asian Pivot Axis here is a good reminder of how that is playing out in Pakistan today as China's top man initiates the huge 46 Billion $ project on spot.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/pakistan-to-create-security-force-to-protect...
Another hint : The man representing the Pak regime, current PM, is a STAUNCH ally of Saud Princes since 30 years, as its they who now finance the Pak Army hold on country (not so much the US).
This pivot would not have occurred if Pak/China did not have, if not the backing the neutral posture of Saud, on this huge project.
The US loses its grip on an ally of 60 years!
Putin's Ukraine caper? You have now demonstrated your willfull stupidity to all.
It takes two to tango and this is a clash of cold war psychopaths on both sides. Putin vs Pax Americana.
I don't take sides when psychopaths match up in "hairtrigger" nuclear gunfire games at OK corral.
You obviously do. Polonium and murder on Red square don't make for good credentials (just to mention two details) for that other fellow who looks Nuland/Obama in the eye.
Jesus, falak, what happened to you? You used to make inciteful comments, now, it's nothing but neocon bullshit. Are they threateninjg the wife and kids? Or did you take that job working on the internet for Thousands a week?
lol, now that is funny. I don't buy one sided visions of History.
Read my posts here. I told you that ZH forum is full of people with a THEORY about geo-politics whether it be khazarian bogey man or Statist communism or Tea Party libertarianism or Von Mises gold bugging---that does not fit the facts. Facts condition theory not the other way round.
If you were to present a cogent vision of whats happening in Ukraine which is neither Neo con US nor Putin's resuscitation of a neo-Romanov Empire i'm listening to you. Putin's behaviour since his power play in Tchetchen has been one of might is right within his own boundaries. Don't make him out to be the new Messiah 'cos he is anti neo-con.
Spell it out to me please. But don't tell me to kneel to a conspiracy theory that is NOT FACTUAL.
BS You show your ignorance
"The Phony Litvinenko Murder" William Dunkerley
Media dumb you down much?
Disagree that Pakistan has been a US ally for 60 years. They buy more military hardware from China/Russia than the US, and their country is >80% Islamist. Pakistan will voice support for the US position when it is convenient/prudent, but actually being an ally? I cant think of many instances. . .
Read its history : Military aid began in 1956 to torpedo the Pak/ India talks for peace in Kashmir and Indus water partition agreement; two issues that were thorns since inception of both nations.
Dulles wanted to nail Nehru as neutral not US ally. He used Paki and military aid. Since that day, the Pak army took over government all based on sale of planned obsolescence material from Korean war.
1956-2008 when General PArvez the last Paki general to be on US payroll was ousted...deep into the trauma of Talibanism and US dronism of Pakistan's now dystopian frontier with Us occupied and shellacked afghan. 54 years of CIA dominance which reached its apex under General Zia who ousted Arafat from Jordan in Black September 1970 move at the head of a mercenary paki army paid for by Saud and CIA. As their pet general he then became the Paki Pinochet when after he coup he hung populist politician Bhutto and then under Casey's CIA butt poking he created the Taliban movement to help oust Soviets from Afghan thus setting the stage for birth of Jihadi Frankenstein in abandoned Afghan; aka Al-Qaeda.
Disagree with that time line and its awesome consequences of that CIA/Pak military collaboration?
Shades of Phoumi Nosavan in Laos...and Ngo Dihn Diem in South NAm... the man the CIA killed in 1963 !
Its an awesome timeline of asymmetric war mayhems; if you include Operation Condor plays in South America as well and Iran/Guatemala 1953.
MOSCOW — In the far east, the teachers went on strike. In central Russia, it was the employees of a metallurgical plant. In St. Petersburg, autoworkers laid down their tools. And at a remote construction site in Siberia, laborers painted their complaints in gigantic white letters on the roofs of their dormitories.
“Dear Putin, V.V.,” the message said. “Four months without pay.”
After months of frustration with an economy sagging under the weight of international sanctions and falling energy prices, workers across Russia are starting to protest unpaid wages and go on strike, in the first nationwide backlash against President Vladimir V. Putin’s economic policies.
The protests have been wildcat actions for the most part, as organized labor never emerged as a strong political or economic force in modern Russia. Under the Soviets, labor unions had been essentially incorporated into management.
Russian companies tend to avoid laying off workers in a downturn to limit severance payments — or to evade the wrath of officials trying to minimize unemployment in their districts. So with the Russian economy expected to contract this year and next, many workers are going unpaid or being sent away from their factories for a few days at a time of unwanted “vacations.”
Unpaid wages, or wage arrears, an old scourge in Russia, rose on April 1 to 2.9 billion rubles, or about $56 million, according to the Russian statistical service. That is a 15 percent increase over a year earlier, but experts say that still does not capture the scope of the diminished pay of workers involuntarily idled during the slowdown.
Discontent over unpaid wages was tamped down for a while by a surge in national pride after the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine a year ago, and by repeated messages on state television that the hardship was an unavoidable price to pay for standing up for Russia’s interests. The strikes, in any case, have not been widely publicized in the state news media.
Yet the strikes and protests in the hinterlands, like the huge graffiti addressed to the president, are posing a new challenge to Mr. Putin’s government, which presided over an energy-driven economic expansion for most of the past 15 years.
During that time, most high-profile antigovernment protests, including the so-called White Ribbon movement in Moscow in 2011, promulgated political causes rather than economic ones. Those were met with corresponding political measures by the Kremlin, such as arrests and stricter laws on staging rallies. A further chill fell over the liberal political opposition this winter after the assassination of a prominent leader, Boris Y. Nemtsov.
But the labor actions are putting forward financial demands, and are being staged in Russian rust belt towns where the government is unlikely to find easy economic solutions to resolve the grievances so long as the recession lasts and oil prices remain low.
Regional newspapers described the teachers’ strike this month — in Zabaikal Province, bordering China — as the first such labor action by teachers in Russia in years. The strike went ahead even though a regional governor had implored the teachers to work unpaid for patriotic reasons, which suggested some waning of the nationalistic pride over the Crimean annexation.
“Yes, it is serious when salaries are not paid, but not serious enough not to come to work,” the governor, Konstantin Ilkovsky, had insisted. Mr. Ilkovksy said the federal government had delayed transferring tax revenue to the region, causing the delay in payments.
In the Ural Mountains, workers at the Kachkanarsk metallurgical plant that enriches vanadium, a metal used in steel alloys, went on a work-to-rule strike in March over layoffs.
In the nearby city of Chelyabinsk, managers at the Chelyabinsk Tractor Factory, which has a rich and storied history as a showcase of industry in the Communist era, sent workers home on mandatory vacations for one day a week, presumably to spend in their apartments in the wintertime.
And not far from the Estonian border, automobile workers at a Ford assembly plant went on strike to protest cutbacks brought on by the dismal automotive market in Russia.
The actions are in line with economists’ predictions that the recession caused by the Ukraine crisis and falling oil prices will bite Russia hardest in rural areas and single-industry towns.
In those places, public-sector employees like teachers and postal workers, whose salaries are capped under austerity measures this year, make up a larger percentage of the population than they do in cities, according to Vladimir Tikhomirov, the chief economist at BCS Financial Group.
Russia’s one-factory towns, called monotowns, barely tread water economically in the best of times. After the collapse of the ruble in December, the rising cost of imported parts hurt manufacturers such as automotive assembly plants.
“If they are not laid off, workers could be sent on unpaid vacation because of falling demand,” Mr. Tikhomirov said.
The construction worker protest in Siberia was all the more remarkable for coming at a highly prestigious site, the new national space center, the Vostochny Cosmodrome. There, deep in a coniferous forest off a spur of the Trans-Siberian Railway, laborers laid concrete and built gigantic hangars for rockets long after salaries stopped being paid in December.
“We haven’t seen a kopeck since December,” Anton I. Tyurishev, an engineer, said in a telephone interview. Some people walked away, but he stayed on his job burrowing tunnels through the frozen soil for communications wires near the launchpad, hoping to be paid. “The company should have laid people off if they didn’t have enough money.”
In all, 1,123 employees of a main subcontractor, the Pacific Bridge-Building Company, have not been paid since December. Most work stopped on March 1, though dozens of employees stayed at the site to guard equipment. Their labor protest took the form of writing the giant message to Mr. Putin on the roofs of their dormitories.
In a rare twist for Russia’s unpaid workers, somebody finally noticed this time.
After the message appeared, a Russian state television crew showed up to ask the workers to appear on a televised call-in show with Mr. Putin on Thursday. Hours before the show, the general contractor paid about 80 percent of the salaries to the 70 or so employees who remained at the space center, Mr. Tyurishev said. The contractor, Spetsstroy, had earlier paid a portion of back wages for all employees for December.
“Because of the indifference toward us, we just despaired and decided on this original means to appeal directly to you,” Mr. Tyurishev told Mr. Putin on the call-in show, referring to the sign the workers had painted. “So you saw us and helped in our situation, to resolve our problem.”
Mr. Putin said he would ensure the whole group was paid in full.
“It is one of the most important construction projects in the country,” he said of the new space center. “Not because I initiated the project, but because the country needs a new launchpad.”
Before the show, a boss had asked the remaining workers to paint over their message, to show that this dispute, at least, was resolved.
Mr. Tyurishev said no, not until all the employees had been paid in full. But in a compromise, he agreed to update it to read, “Three months without pay.”
Start your own fucking website prick...
Better yet, skip the website and just STFU.
I am waiting till the USA that holds the riegns on the Central Banks and Europe Leaderships by the short and curlies pack up and take their game home. As well they can take their game ball home from everywhere else as well and the short term pain will be taken and will work out as GOOD NEWS WORLD WIDE>. The American Adenda of a NEW WORLD ORDER will not be in most of the Worlds Population's best interest and that day I will become HAPPY. The Bullshit passed from Corporate America that has special Laws, have polluted food and raped countries from sustaining a quality of life forced by ARMIES of Mercinaries when the Government can't use the Navies and Air Forces which much of the Taxes support .
No wonder that those with eyes open see the wrongs which I atribute to Americans when their Country Men women and children suffer hardships. When will the people stand up and tell the Government that they are paid for and work for the commoner rather than the Monsantos ? The truth is hidden with Lies and deceit, yet the Population is wrapping the Flag around themselves thinking they are Just and Right. Is it God punishing the country? Or Science of Haarp that is being tested?
Can any American that is not profiting from the Corruption say what they do is Right? Many are dumbed down , it is sooooooo obvious to outsiders.
Isn't the EU and (or) the ECB a bigger cartel / monopoly? And, yes with intel and (para, et al) military forces too, sounds familiar, USAA / Fed / 3rd Bank of the US. Oligarchy. "Me thinks the lady doth protest too much..."
there is a difference between a jurisdiction setting market rules and the principle of "monopoly of force"
I read this headline and started laughing so hard it was hard to contain myself. I am sure Putin is really concerned about this bullisht suit. Will they pay it in Dollars (after the crash of the dollar ) or Gold (paper gold from the Cum mex? When you cannot compete in the arena of ideas you resort to this sort of bullshit!
What's Russian for "get your fucking gas from somewhere else then"
Europe playing Russian Roulette without any empty chambers.
Fucking idiots.
The EU are vigorously looking for ways to be suicided!
The different EU countries are charged a different price according to how much gas they use - the higher the usage the lower the price. Each country also receives an offset for transit fees of gas through their country. This deal is based on the concenpt of no resale of imported gas.
The countries paying a lower price want to sell some extra gas to the higher price countries undercutting Gazprom. Combined with the transit fee offset, this would result in a double loss for Gazprom.
One solution - all countries pay the same rate somewhere between the lowest and highest value.
Another solution - just walk away from bad faith customers.
All together now - Fuck the EU.
Somehow it seems the world is experiencing economic and political stress brought about by limits of financial engineering and energy resource turmoil. The result is friction amoung various national, ethnic, cultural and religious divides which has already manifested itself in brinksmanship, killings and outright warfare. The United States is not innocent in provoking much of this discontent, but for me it is the best place to live and enjoy life. If history repeats, the United States will again withdraw from this mayhem and become more isolationist. There is merit taking a step back and concentrate on curing our ills at home before attempting to manipulate the world . The same goes for Putin, Draghi and the next President of the United States.
Note to Gazprom and Russia:
I'm pretty sure that the majority of valves work the same the world over.
Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey... You only have two choices. Go with the first option.
Of course Gazprom is a monopoly that leverages the hell outta its position as sole nat gas supplier to W Europe. Why the EU would choose NOW to start this is puzzling, as I cant see what the EU will gain. . . unless they need an excuse to roll in the tanks and jets. W Europe is too weak militarily to challenge Russia, so that's a non-starter as well. The politicians everywhere seem to have gone raving bonkers. . .
why now? simple. there were new EU Parliamentary elections, and a fresh EU Commission. those things take lots of time
Because they have to do what President Peace Prize orders them to do
Bulgaria _ Vulgar(ia) _ John McCain _ Anti-Trust Ha fucking Ha
STFU
Ghordo you are getting on my nerves and really showing yourself up as a shill for the SLIME that is EU.
you are very welcome
and your thoughtful, cogent argument is...?
. . . . is. . that the EU is a sham proxy for Goldman Sucks. However, this statement is over simplifying matters on my part.
The EU is becoming a SPENT FORCE without the FUNDS to Quell the UNREST that is developing in these PUPPET STATES ( Romania, Bulgaria etc . . . ).
The EU is going to go the way of the Dodo Bird.
I could go on and on Ghordo but fear boring fellow Z/H'rs . . . but you get my drift, YA?
Isn't The Ukrainian conflict partially about wrestling control of the pipelines away from Russian / Gasprom control? A lawsuit seems kind of diminutive in light of the Ukrainian civil war.
why would Russia or any other firm sell something to one buyer and allow them to mark it up to sell to another... this is just normal business. EU are scammers
No, this is not just stupidity, this is a plain imbecillity.
When a bigot makes a comment such as the one Jonesy made, everyone should be jumping all over it. Yet somehow there are 12 up arrows vs 1 negative. What is wrong with you readers?
The truth about the conflict with Russia >> http://wp.me/p4OZ4v-1Gm
BI2 is now blaming the whole Russian conflict on the Jews!!! And his source of information is of all things a website called Bibilicism Institute. I've heard there is a tremendous growth of anitisemetic views in Europe and Russia. This is crazy.
You need to learn the difference between antisemitism and opposition to Zionism, two entirely different issues.
what is your definition of semite?
It's definition refers to language use, however, to the everyday person it means Jew. Not all Jews are Zionist.
Semite is descendant of Sem, son of Noe.
This is only correct usage
pro-Russian countries get cheap gas, anti-Russian countries get expensive gas.
What can't Europe understand about it?
Belarus gets gas for $150; Estonia, which humiliates Russian-speaking citizens, gets gas for $500.
pro-Russian Ukraine got gas for as low as $50, anti-Russian Ukraine gets gas for $400.
My dad was in Bastogne, in the Battle of the Bulge, hiding in a house with another soldier when they heard a Panzer come down the street and stop in front of their house. Tank turned gun and fired directly on the home. Blew the walls out. Dad got beaned (a can of beans in the house exploded and he was hit with bean can shrapnel) Got a purple heart. Patched up, and sent back to fight. The Panzer was formidable, but hardly invincible. His unit fought all the way to Berlin, where the Americans were ordered to stand down. Dad had a picture of Russian tanks they met, with lady tank crews. The Russians pushed the Germans, Panzer and all, back to Berlin the hard way. They had a lousy government, lousy infrastructure, lousy supply lines, but made up for it in blood. Because ultimately, Russians will die to defend their soil
The first man in space, a Ruskie, was hardly a coward. Maybe crazy, but not a coward
If the US was in Russia's position pipelines would blow and those responsible for the Coup in the Ukraine would be blamed. Europeans would be left to freeze. When the pipelines were repaired gas would be much more expensive.
Europe: your leaders are idiots who have no concern for you, probably best to start buying firewood.
Must... kill... more... Syrian... children. After all, the fucking Syria-Qatar pipeline isn't going to build itself is it?
Destroying the lives of countless Syrians is an incredibly small price to pay for having the EU's NatGas needs
supplied by Qatar/Iran instead of Russia. Moreover, the Syria-Qatar pipeline will not mean that Qatar/Iran
has a monopoly over supplying NatGas to the EU because the EU will state that it does not.
It takes a village.
The Kremlin is confident they will sort this out. I think the EU is going to dig in their heels.
BTW--how many gas companies in the US know keep supplying customers after they havent paid their bill for a few years? I think Gazprom is being especially reasonable with Ukraine. I think the US is 30 days no pay = turn off grandma's gaz and let her freeze to death!
Stupid Europeans.
What if they dont get gas from Russia.
What if energy prices skyrocket.
What if their public is antagonized.
What if another world war envelops Europe.
What if every bit of food , every drop of water & every breath you take becomes radioactive.
-----
No, but these stupid Europeans must show their alliance to their master America.
They think that they are protected ,
No, America wants to start fires every where .
SO THAT AMERICA CAN SELL MORE ARMS & BOOST ITS OWN ECONOMY
Get it, stupid Europeans.