Yesterday, the Energy Community Secretariat submitted a Reasoned Opinion to Serbia for its non-compliance with the competition acquis, as the next step in the dispute settlement case. In the Reasoned Opinion, the Secretariat reiterates its view expressed in the Opening Letter, that by ratifying an agreement requiring undertakings to adopt anti-competitive conduct in the sense of Article 18(1)(a) of the Treaty, Serbia deprived this provision of its effectiveness and thereby infringed its obligations under the Energy Community Treaty.
This is because the 2012 Agreement between the Serbian and Russian governments on the supply of natural gas to Serbia which is implemented via a contract between Gazprom, Srbijagas and Yugorosgaz stipulates in its Article 4(3) that the gas supplied is intended for use in the Serbian market. The country is now requested to rectify the issues of non-compliance with Energy Community law identified in the Reasoned Opinion within a time-limit of two months.
Source: Energy community
