Fine of $8 bln on Gazprom, partners over Nord Stream 2 cancelled on appeal in Poland - media

MOSCOW. Oct 26 (Interfax) - A Polish appeals court has overturned a decision by Poland's antitrust regulator to impose a fine of more than PLN29 billion on Russian gas giant Gazprom and its five European partners in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, Polish publication Puls Buzinesu reported.

Poland's Court of Competition and Consumer Protection made a similar ruling at the end of October 2022. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection or UOKiK said then that it would appeal the ruling at the Warsaw Appeals Court and then the Supreme Court.

The Court of Competition and Consumer Protection said after its ruling that a joint venture was never created, and the assessment of the consequences for the economy, as well as the attempts by the project participants to circumvent the law, is outside UOKiK's jurisdiction.

In 2020, UOKiK announced after a two-year investigation that the loan agreements between Nord Stream 2 AG, Gazprom and western financial investors to finance the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project were, according to Polish antitrust law, a concentration of business, so, according to Polish officials, the regulator was supposed to be notified. UOKiK therefore issued a fine to Gazprom and its western financial partners.

The regulator imposed the maximum fine, in the amount of 10% of revenue, which came to $7.755 billion for Gazprom, $14.8 million for Engie Energy, $8 million for Uniper, $23.4 million for OMV and $8 million for Wintershall Dea.