EC will deal severely with violators of competition laws, commissioner says
KYIV. Sept 30 (Interfax) - The European Commission will deal severely with violators of antimonopoly laws if it finds competition infractions, EC Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger said in Kyiv on Thursday.
If any signs of violations are found, the EC will naturally have to act in strict accordance with the law, he said. The EC would have to look at the terms of contracts and other documents, Oettinger added, commenting on the launch of an investigation of European companies for signs of competition violations.
However, the EC is only at the very initial stage of the probe, and no one can currently predict how it will end, Oettinger said.
In light of this, Oettinger said he would recommend that no one jump to any premature conclusions.
It was reported earlier that on September 27 EC officials carried out surprise inspections for compliance with European competition legislation at the offices of Gazprom subsidiaries and affiliates in Central and Eastern Europe.
