The World Trade Organization (WTO) found it unlawful to provide benefits for infrastructure projects supplying gas to the EU not from Russia, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development said.
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According to the ministry, the WTO decision on the dispute between Russia and the EU regarding the Third Energy Package will improve conditions for the access of Russian natural gas to the EU market and help level the competitive conditions for Russian companies in Europe.
"The decisions adopted on all three blocks of measures are able to improve the conditions for the access of Russian natural gas to the EU market, as well as to level the competition conditions at the EU market for Russian pipeline service providers, and thus they present commercial interest to Russian suppliers of natural gas and and providers of transportation services," the ministry said in a statement.
However, Russia failed to appeal LNG consumer preferences in the Third Energy Package, the WTO said in its report.
"Russia has not provided any evidence regarding consumer preferences, and therefore we do not make any findings regarding this criterion," the WTO report reads.
The EU Third Energy Package stipulates that owners of pipelines located in Europe cannot be companies that are engaged in gas production. This requirement created obstacles for the construction, for example, of the South Stream project, which had to be abandoned.
