* Gazprom says it was set up beyond EU jurisdiction
* Reminds EU it is of strategic importance to Russia
* Says pricing practices in accordance with standards
* European sales over half of Gazprom's gas revenue
MOSCOW/BRUSSELS, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Russia's Gazprom
said on Wednesday it was ready to talk with the
European Union after Brussels began a competition investigation
into its gas sales, but stressed it was armed with legal and
political reasons why the EU should back off.
The European Commission started the inquiry on Tuesday into
suspicions that Gazprom, which is more than 50 percent owned by
the Russian state, was hindering the free flow of gas across the
EU and imposing unfair prices on its customers by linking the
cost of gas to oil prices.
Gazprom, which makes most of its 3.2 trillion roubles ($99
billion) of gas sales in Europe, said it abided by all
appropriate laws in the EU and everywhere it operated, including
price mechanisms, and prepared the ground for a fight by
stressing its strategic importance to Russia.
"We hope that during the investigation ... the fact that
Gazprom, set up beyond the EU jurisdiction, is a company,
bestowed ... in accordance with the Russian law, with a status
of a strategic organisation controlled by the state, would be
taken into account," Gazprom said.
Political tensions between the EU and Russia over gas supply
are nothing new. Gazprom supplies over a quarter of Europe's gas
consumption, and several EU states rely on it for most of their
needs and are locked into long-term contracts, in some cases of
up to 30 years.
"We are in particular interested in long-term contracts
between Gazprom and the businesses to whom they supply natural
gas," Antoine Colombani, a spokesman for competition policy at
the European Commission, told a briefing.
Colombani said the investigation covered Poland, the Czech
Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania. "It doesn't mean that we are excluding other member
states. If the investigation reveals new information, then we
will extend the investigation," he added.
Last year, the Commission raided the offices of several
Gazprom units in Europe to investigate their involvement in the
supply, transmission and storage of natural gas. A Commission
official said at the time that the raids were part of an EU
effort to wean itself off reliance on Russian gas.
DIPLOMATS SURPRISED
Moscow diplomats expressed surprise at the renewed conflict
between Brussels and Gazprom, which bowed to clients' demands
for softer contractual terms earlier this year and put an end to
protracted arbitration proceedings with some consumers. "It
really came out of nowhere," one said.
The Russian gas export monopoly accepted price cuts of 10
percent, on average, and started retroactive payments in the
first quarter to reflect changes to the deals.
"Poland's PGNiG is one of the two remaining major Gazprom
customers still in a pricing dispute with Gazprom, as the
company is seeking not a 10 percent discount, but 20 percent,
and the Commission's actions are likely improve its negotiating
position with Gazprom," Citi analysts said in a research note.
Citi cited media reports that Gazprom's oil-linked contract
prices were higher for countries closer to the Russian border,
which tend to be former Communist states with higher structural
dependence on Russian gas.
"If that is indeed the case, the Commission is likely to
frown upon that practice, and may try to force pricing to be
comparable among the various countries after accounting for
shipping costs," Citi said.
"Beyond that, we fail to see the grounds upon which the
Commission could have an issue with the gas-oil link, as that is
a long-standing industry practice going back to the 1970s."
Lithuania, which has fought with Gazprom over the company's
resistance to separating the transport infrastructure and supply
business in that country, welcomed the inquiry.
Gazprom argues that this demand for "unbundling" would mean
a forced sale that amounted to expropriation and sees its
Lithuanian business as a test case for other parts of Europe.
BIG FINES
The stakes are high. Gazprom may end up paying fines of up
to 10 percent of revenues in the relevant markets, which could
see it stumping up between $4 billion and $5 billion.
A Brussels-based lawyer, who practises anti-trust law and
declined to be identified, said the Commission could also
declare the contracts void and unenforceable.
Gazprom is struggling to hold on to European markets as it
is. It officially expects to export 150 billion cubic metres of
gas to the EU this year, unchanged from 2011, though analysts
are sceptical about its ability to sustain such volumes.
In the face of sluggish demand and an influx of alternative
fuel such as liquefied natural gas, data showed a fall in
Gazprom's export volumes to Europe in January-August of 10
percent year-on-year, according to a Gazprom source.
Last year, Gazprom sold gas to Europe and other countries
outside the former Soviet Union worth $55 billion. The revenues
are expected to be lower this year after it offered the price
cuts on long-term gas supplies after pressure from customers.
