Every once in a while, it looks as though the Russian anti-trust authorities appear as though they are a normal, independent institution tasked with protecting the integrity of markets from monopolistic practices of business. On the other hand, this a country whose state-owned energy giant Gazprom has a monopoly over the country’s gas transit network written into law. Today’s news was one of those funny moments:
Russian anti-trust authorities on Tuesday ordered the state-controlled gas giant Gazprom to allow independent gas producers access to the pipeline network it monopolises or face legal action.
In a rare move by a Russian state body against the powerful energy company, the anti-trust agency threatened to “open inquiries into the violation of anti-monopoly legislation if it receives information to that effect from independent companies.”
I wonder who could be behind this one? It has been a while since Igor Sechin and the boys at Rosneft went to war against Gazprom, but I suppose with the economic crisis it was inevitable that some of the siloviki outside the Gazprom grouping made a move. Has Medvedev lost his mole in the company, or was this expected?
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4 Comments
looks like someone from the Russian anti trust is receiving bribes again from foreign NGOs. but hopefully this is just a show.
yes, that must be it, Western NGOs are paying the anti-trust authorities to enforce its own anti-monopoly legislation. It’s another conspiracy by those determined to hold back Gazprom’s glorious rise to world domination!
but this is not about enforcing anti monopoly measures, its about stirring public speculation and concern about divisions in the Russian government.
No, Junichiro, because nobody in Russia will link these two events or speculate about the government. In case your NGOs have been bribing them, this would indeed be a case of the West paying Russia to do what it should do by itself. Just like with those old Third-World dictatorships.The truth is, of course, that no NGO is behind that (if there were one, the government, always so ready to stop them, would have already intervened…). It’s again a behind-the-scenes fight between Russian siloviki. Kak vsegda.