Gazprom advised to study Fifty Shades of Grey for talks with EC
MOSCOW. April 30 (Interfax) - Gazprom deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev, who is in charge of negotiations with the European Commission on its antitrust case against the Russian gas giant, concluded a conference call for analysts with an unexpected joke.
"On a lighter note, we of course have consultants working with us on the matter of the investigation. One of the consultants advised us to study the book Fifty Shades of Grey in detail," Medvedev said to the clear amusement of the other participants in the conference call.
The EC, after a 2.5-year investigation, officially presented its statement of objections to Gazprom on April 22.
"The story with the European Commission investigation is not new. It's just that now it has moved to the formal course with the issue of the statement of objections. And we, like before, will respond to these claims like respectful people, with argumentation. Particularly since we do not consider ourselves to be guilty of the presented charges and will now demonstrate this within the context of the proceedings," Medvedev said.
"We have 12 weeks to prepare a formal response and then hearings are possible. I had the pleasure to meet the new commissioner, Ms. [Margrethe] Vestager, in a conference call. So far we've just exchanged views on some issues. But the most important thing is that we agreed that we will hold at least two meetings with my and her participation before our formal response. In addition, there is an agreement between Mr. Barroso and Prime Minister Medvedev that these consultations will be conducted under the wing, under the umbrella of, on one side, the European Commission - at one time competition commissioner Mr. Almunia was put forward, and on our side [Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly] Yanovsky. There is no reason to reject such a procedure, which is something we also talked about," Medvedev said.
"No one has yet abolished the presumption of innocence. The statement of objections is of a preliminary nature, which has been officially stated. God willing, in 16 weeks we'll be able to tell everyone everything. Perhaps even together with the European Commission," Medvedev said.
Speaking about the possible consequences of the investigation, he said: "Besides fines, there could be an agreement to assume certain obligations within the context of the discussions of the statement of objections. Therefore, we believe that this is not just a question of a monetary fine, particularly since we weren't speeding."
"Moreover, we deserve not a fine but recognition for the fact that we created competition on the European market. Gazprom with its partner BASF created competition [to monopoly Ruhrgas] when there was no hint of it. I hope that this will be taken into account in the course of the proceedings," Medvedev said.