* Putin says Russia, Europe have "warm, constructive"
relations
* Blames European debt crisis in the probe
* Says someone in the European Commision wants Russia to
share eurozone debt problems
* Gazprom's average gas price four times higher of a spot
market
* Europe gets a quarter of its gas needs from Russia
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Russian President
Vladimir Putin on Sunday dismissed any talk of a trade war with
Europe over a European Commission competition investigation into
state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom.
"We have very warm, constructive relations. It is not a
trade war," Putin told reporters after an Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Russian port city of
Vladivostok.
The European Union's executive Commission opened the
inquiry on Tuesday into suspicions that Gazprom, which is more
than 50 percent owned by the Russian state, is hindering the
free flow of gas across the EU and mistreating its customers by
linking the cost of gas to oil prices.
However, Putin linked the recent investigation to European
debt crisis, blaming some of the European Commision officials in
desire to shift internal problems to Russia.
"Primarily, it (the probe) stems from the tough economic
situation in the euro zone as we are talking here mainly about
Eastern European countries. The European Union is largely
subsidising Eastern European economies," Putin said.
"It seems that now someone in the European Commision decided
that we should share a part of this burden ... But this approach
is not constructive."
Europe buys around a quarter of its gas from Gazprom,
Russia's export monopoly, typically under long-term contracts
whose prices are mainly tied to the price of oil and only a
small element linked to cheaper 'spot' gas prices.
Gazprom's average Europe sale price is expected at $405-$415
per 1,000 cubic metres in 2012 - or around four times the
average spot price on the U.S. natural gas market, where booming
shale gas production has created a major supply glut.
Gazprom has said it was armed with legal and political
reasons to respond to the investigation but, reflecting its
reliance on the European market for around half of its revenues,
has refrained from any action that might disrupt gas supplies.
