The Vilnius Regional Administrative Court on Monday dismissed Gazprom's appeal contesting the 35.7-million-euro fine, which was levied in June 2014 after a two-year investigation launched after an unsuccessful attempt by Lietuvos Energijos Gamyba(Lithuanian Energy Production, or LEG) to conclude a natural gas swap deal with the Russian gas supplier.
The court's decision may be appealed to a higher instance court within 14 days.
"The college of judges came to the conclusion that the (Competition) Council's decision was legitimate and justified and taken upon consideration of all the factual circumstances, and, therefore, it dismissed the appellant's appeal as unfounded," the court said.
According to the court, a condition tied to Gazprom's acquisition of a 34% stake in Lietuvos Dujos (Lithuanian Gas) back in 2004 laid down a clear obligation for the Russian company not to create barriers for Lithuanian consumers to buy gas from other suppliers. Therefore, Gazprom's refusal to negotiate with LEG (formerly Lietuvos Energija) prevented it from doing so and made it possible for the Russian company to maintain its position as the sole gas supplier.
Gazprom claimed that the Lithuanian Competition Council had misinterpreted the condition and that the investigation had been opened and the fine had been imposed without a valid reason.
Gazprom said that the authority had failed to complete its probe within the established timeframe and failed to consider all circumstances in an objective manner. According to the Russian company, its right to defense was infringed as it was refused access to 60% of the case-file.
The competition watchdog's experts established during the investigation that Gazprom's refusal to negotiate with Lietuvos Energijos Gamyba on a natural gas swap deal in 2013-2015 had prevented the Lithuanian company from purchasing cheaper gas from another supplier and thus breached a condition of the anti-trust body's approval of its acquisition of shares in Lietuvos Dujos in 2004.
Gazprom also sought to gain full access to documents related to the anti-trust fine, but the Lithuanian Supreme Administrative Court in early September turned down the request.
