Naftogaz says it no longer has monopoly on Ukraine gas market

"The results of the analysis conducted by Naftogaz of Ukraine using standard European methods, namely the Small but Significant Non-transitory Increase in Prices (SSNIP) test, indicate that after the integration of Ukraine's gas market into the European market, Naftogaz no longer holds a monopoly (dominant) position in the gas market," Naftogaz said in a statement.

In order to prevent further "spreading of manipulations regarding Naftogaz's monopoly," the company decided to apply to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (ACU) with a request to conduct research on the gas market so that the latter would either confirm or deny the Naftogaz's statement.

The company also appealed to the international partners of Ukraine, first of all, to the Energy Community Secretariat with a request to provide relevant expert support.

Read alsoNaftogaz: Russia's Gazprom still unable to ensure contract pressure for gas transit"Naftogaz has lost its monopoly position with the integration of the Ukrainian market into the European one, just like the only store in an abandoned village is losing its monopoly position when new roads are being built, bringing an opportunity to buy in other stores," Naftogaz Chief Commercial Officer Yuriy Vitrenko said.

"The situation of Naftogaz on the market, even with a strong desire, cannot lead to the fact that it sells gas at a higher price than in a competitive market... The absence of such an opportunity proves that Naftogaz does not occupy a monopoly position in the market," he added.

The standard European test to determine the monopoly position is rather simple. Its task is to determine whether a company can keep the price higher by at least 5% than the price set in conditions of significant competition during the year.

As UNIAN reported earlier, state regulations of gas prices for all categories of consumers, except for households and district-level central heating providers, were abolished in October 2015. Since then, Naftogaz has been supplying gas to industrial consumers, budget organizations and other business entities on market terms.

In July 2017, the District Administrative Court ordered the Cabinet to compensate Naftogaz for losses from gas supplies to households, but the government refused to do that.