Representatives of the EU conducted searches in the offices of German divisions of Gazprom as part of an investigation into the role of the russian monopolist on the increase of gas prices in Europe. This was announced by Bloomberg.
The investigations took place in the offices of Gazprom Germania GmbH and Wingas GmbH, which supply about 20% of the gas supply to the German market.
EU investigates the input of Gasprom into the energy crisis in Europe in the winter of 2021-2022. The then russian monopolist limited the additional gas supply at the same time when Europe's natural gas reserves fell to their lowest level in 10 years.
At the beginning of 2022, the head of the International energy agency accused russia of causing the energy crisis which led to the closing of a number of plants in Europe. The European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager initiated investigation into Gazprom’s actions.
During the investigation, facts about Russian pressure on European politicians to approve the launch of the gas pipeline Nord stream-2 were revealed.
In January, Gazprom announced the historical minimum of gas reserves in underground natural gas storages [UNGS] in Europe.
The utilization of the capacity of UNGS in Germany was reduced to 41,8%. EU thought that Russia was trying to put pressure on Europe to get certification of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline.
Due to a reduced gas supply to EU through Poland and Ukraine, Europe has set a record for gas extraction from UNGS.
On February 2, for the first time in 43 days, Gazprom resumed gas supplies to Germany via Belarus.