OREANDA-NEWSThe Polish Competition and Consumer Protection Authority UOKiK, which had previously fined the French company Engie Energy as part of an investigation into Nord Stream-2, requested data from Gazprom. This is stated in the Gazprom memorandum.

“On January 15, 2020 Gazprom received a notification from the Polish Competition Committee requesting information and documents for an investigation”, the document says. The memorandum notes that earlier in Warsaw they threatened to impose fines of 10% of the annual turnover on any company that would violate UOKiK requirements.

In the summer of 2016, Gazprom and its project partners, which included the French ENGIE, the Austrian OMV, the British-Dutch Shell, the German Uniper and Wintershall Dea, submitted an application to UOKiK for the creation of a joint venture for the construction of Nord Stream-2. The permission of the Polish regulator was required in connection with EU legislation, although the gas pipeline itself doesn't pass through the economic zone of Poland. UOKiK refused to approve the application, explaining this as a threat of violation of antitrust laws.

In November 2019, the Polish antitrust authority fined French Engie 172 million zlotys, or € 40.3 million. The reason was a “stubborn and unreasonable refusal” to provide the requested documents for the company to participate in the Nord Stream-2 construction project.