WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s UOKiK watchdog may fine Russian gas producer Gazprom
UOKiK said in 2018 it charged six companies, including one owned by Gazprom, with financing construction of the pipeline without a legally required permit. It said that in early 2020 Gazprom failed to provide documents relating to the case.
“Gazprom cannot operate above the law and, for that reason, I have initiated proceedings against the company to impose a fine for failure to provide information during the pending investigation,” UOKiK President Tomasz Chrostny said in a statement.
Poland sees Nord Stream 2, which would double Russia’s gas export capacity via the Baltic Sea, as a threat to Europe’s energy security, saying it will strengthen Gazprom’s already dominant position on the market.
Nord Stream 2 is led by Gazprom, with half of the funding provided by Germany’s Uniper
In 2019 UOKiK fined Engie 40 million euros for failing to provide documents and information relating to the case.
Gazprom could not immediately be reached for comment.
($1 = 0.8922 euros)
(Reporting by Marcin Goclowski and Alan Charlish; Editing by Jason Neely and Edmund Blair)
