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“This could inflame tensions between the EU and Russia”
Margrethe Vestager is a woman unafraid of causing a stir. And she seems intent on proving it if her recent actions as new EU commissioner for competition are anything to go by. First, it was anti-trust investigations into global internet giant Google, but more recently Vestager has taken aim at Russian gas giant Gazprom.
Accusing any company as large and powerful as Google or Gazprom of market abuse is bound to raise eyebrows – but in the case of the EU’s largest single supplier of gas, market prices might be on the up too.
As soon as news surfaced of the plans to level anti-trust allegations against the Russian state-owned company, commentators in the same breath noted that this could easily inflame tensions between the EU and Russian president Vladimir Putin. It’s a dangerous business poking a bear.
Small surprise then that the legal challenge has been mounted in the summer, not the high-demand winter season. But with 12 weeks before Gazprom is required to respond to the allegations, the next steps are likely to be in August, bringing any possible flare-up in tensions closer to next winter season.
For now, it seems, the market is holding its nerve and banking on the cheaper-than-usual imports continuing to flow. But it wasn’t so long ago that Russia reacted to a price dispute by threatening to cut supply. Talking tough isn’t too hard in the summer, but when temperatures cool the EU will be hoping healthy storage stocks will back them up.
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