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Gazprom and the EU: raiding the gas companies / William C. Ramsay, IFRI Edito Energie, 30 septembre 2011http://www.ifri.org/?page=detail-contribution&#38;id=6814It was a matter of time before the Commission competition authorities looked into the business arrangements between Gazprom and its European partners.  Some would ask why it took so long.  For years Gazprom has used its capital budgets to take ownership positions downstream in client states in gas transmission, distribution and storage.  While Europeans for decades have paid high oil-linked gas prices to Gazprom to encourage upstream investment in harsh Russian frontier gas for European markets, Gazprom has been re-establishing its old Soviet gas network primarily in former Comecon countries and beyond – in Europe’s major markets.  Some western companies even swapped their Eastern European gas assets to Gazprom for positions in Russia’s upstream.  Why these companies want to be a minority shareholder with Gazprom – you would have to ask their Boards of Directors...