BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators are set to accept concessions from Gazprom (GAZP.MM) in the coming weeks aimed at addressing concerns that the Russian gas giant abused its dominant position in eastern Europe, sources familiar with the matter said.
A decision by the European Commission could come as early as this month although the timing could still slip, the people said. A settlement would allow Gazprom to avoid a possible fine of as much as 10 percent of its global turnover.
Last year, state-owned Gazprom, which supplies a third of the EU’s gas, offered to link prices to benchmarks such as western European gas market hubs and border prices in France, Germany and Italy, and allow price reviews every two years.
The company also pledged to scrap all contractual restrictions which bar clients from reselling its gas and let the Bulgarian transmission network operator take charge of gas flows between the country and Greece.
Gazprom has tweaked its original proposal after negative feedback from EU countries and customers but the main elements remain unchanged, according to a recent draft seen by Reuters.
Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Francesco Guarascio
