Russia still has no intention of removing Gazprom’s export monopoly, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said in an interview with the Russian daily Kommersant.

“I will say that we haven’t received any official proposals, requests, or demands from the European Commission in this regard. We believe that there’s no sense now in changing the current system for exporting gas from Russia,” Shmatko said.

He also said that the European Commission’s efforts to influence Gazprom’s operations in the European Union have not found support among other participants on the European energy market. “The European Commission’s eagerness to have stronger influence over Gazprom’s relations with its European clients, as well as Russian energy policy in general, often runs up against resistance in Europe itself, as we know. Not all of our partners in the E.U. want this, and they’ve told us this. There is the impression that this is the European Commission’s attempt to resolve its problems on our account,” the Minister said.

Checks

At the same time, Shmatko said that the searches conducted at the European offices of several Gazprom subsidiaries on the initiative of E.U. antimonopoly organs have been a worrying sign for Russia and could have an impact on the energy dialog with the E.U.

“What has happened is unprecedented. Both how it suddenly happened and the accusations that have come out, as well as the removal of personal effects during the searches right down to cellular phones, all of this looks like it is was a carefully planned and well prepared action. I want to stress that the searches held by the E.U.’s commission for market competition, which has incriminated Gazprom and its partners, are possibly in violation of antimonopoly legislation. In this sense, both the auditing organ and the formalization of instructions fundamentally bears no direct relation to the Russia-E.U. energy dialog in regards to, for instance, the problems concerning the Third Energy Package. But, of course, this can’t help but not have an impact in our relations,” he said.

Audits and checks of Gazprom’s subsidiaries by the European Commission were implemented in an objective fashion, the European Commissioner for Energy, Gunther Oettinger, told journalists on December 1.

“The experts in antimonopoly rules carried them [the audits] out with a high level of objectivity,” Oettinger said.

It was earlier reported that representatives of the European Commission carried out inspections at the offices of Gazprom’s buyers and its associated companies in Central and Eastern Europe at the end of September. The raids were carried at Gazprom Germania GmbH, E.ON Ruhrgas and RWE (Germany), PGNiG, EuRoPol Gas SA (Poland), Vemex LLC (Czech Republic), OMV, GWH Gashandel GmbH (Austria), Overgas Inc. AD (Bulgaria), Panrusgas Co. (Hungary), Latvijas Gaze JSC (Latvia), Eesti Gaas AS (Estonia), Lietuvos dujos AB (Lithuania).

“These were the first prepared checks. I don’t have information on their results. But I am sure that the experts in antimonopoly rules carried them [the audits] out with a high level of objectivity. They reported their results with a high level of transparency and passed them on to the European Commissioners. The results will be presented in the future to both the European society and enterprises,” Oettinger said.

“We believe this because the European Commission stands as a watchdog for competition. The audit is not a sensation, but part of the normal agenda for the day. I would consider any preconceived opinion to be mistaken,” he said.

Shmatko said that the audits have been alarming to Russia and they will be discussed in the future, adding that both Russia and the E.U. will try to find suitable solutions to these problems.

According to Gazprom, European Commission officials will need at least a year to acquaint themselves with the materials acquired during the September raids at Gazprom’s European offices, as well as its subsidiaries and counter-agents, so that they can formulate a formal conclusion.

Infrastructure

Russia and the European Commission could turn back to preparing an intergovernmental agreement on trans-border infrastructure projects, including the South Stream gas pipeline, Shmatko told reporters.

This might happen after work done by experts at the start of next year, Shmatko said.

Shmatko added that Russia still insists that South Stream should be given special legal status. At the same time, he stressed that Russia would take on a tougher positions in its negotiations with the European Commission in regards to gas projects. He added that Russia is also stepping up its work with Gazprom’s corporate partners and various E.U. countries.

“Now, we should be tougher and harder in the negotiations with the European Commission. We definitely don’t want to take offence or make an imposition. We will make all the effort so that we are back on track in the negotiating process. But the main conclusion that we’ve drawn from the situation is that we should try to work more actively with our partners, both governments and commercial companies,” Shmatko said.

“We agreed to discuss the possibility of continuing work on preparing an intergovernmental agreement,” he said.

Oettinger has said that the E.U. is in no event going to abandon the Third Energy Package.

“During constructive discussions today, I explained that we consider changes to this document undesirable and unrealistic,” he said. There is a possibility the document could be made more flexible, he said, and it is possible that its stipulations could be eased for major infrastructure projects.

“But as to specific projects aimed at modernizing the infrastructure, we have agreed to hold an expert-level meeting on how much easing and what exceptions could be used,” he said.

Shmatko said that both European and Russian regulators would take part in the meeting. “In this meeting Russian and European regulators will be participating. We will try to determine what can be done in the context of the Third Energy Package for exceptions and loosening. This concerns the existing situation with the gas pipeline lines OPAL and NEL, the continuation of Nord Stream, existing Gazprom pipelines on the European territory, and the realization of the South Stream project. As the Germans say, the devil is in the details,” he said.

The meeting could take place next month or the one after, Shmatko said.

As reported, Russia has suggested that intergovernmental document drafts reflect the possibility of the South Stream gas pipeline’s acquiring the status of “Trans-European Network” (TEN) or working up for it a legal regime for trans-border projects. This would make possible removing the gas pipeline from the purview of European and national regulators and the Third Energy Package. However, Russia’s proposals won no favor from the E.C. Brussels continues to insist on the creation of the so-called “Southern Corridor,” within which are to be created the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline and Nabucco. Russia’s proposals are based on South Stream’s being a priority.

Shmatko said that he does not exclude the possibility that South Stream will get TEN status. “With the receipt of much information about routes and gas delivery volume, the European Union is, as before, ready to consider the issue of South Stream’s securing TEN status,” he said.

That status would mean that South Stream is a key project aimed at providing stable development and reliable delivery of natural gas to European consumers, and would help with the rapid introduction of the most important transportation capacity. Two Gazprom pipeline projects – Nord Stream and Yamal-Europe – and also Nabucco have this status.

In Russia’s agreements with E.U. member-countries, the parties are to lobby for South Stream’s receiving TEN status.