Gazprom plans to become a big player in Europe’s gas market

"Gazprom export" plans to increase its market share in Europe of 2%-5% in 2016 over the previous year, as stated by the representative of the company Valery Nemov, at the 10th annual European Gas Summit organised by S&P Global Platts in Düsseldorf.

"We must remember that in recent years Gazprom has set a very ambitious goal: to reach a market share of 30% in Europe," said Nemov, quoted by Bloomberg.

In July, in the report of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mention is made of the fact that Gazprom could start a "price war" to capture a share of the European market, due to the slowdown in demand and the probable gas competition American shale in the form of LNG. As noted by the IMF, 30% of EU imports of gas is run from Gazprom.

In June, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said that the company's share in the European market will continue to grow regardless of the presence or absence of the American LNG.

"This is the first step [Gazprom] can take. You need to take into account that Gazprom Export has a business model that is based on long term contracts, this cannot be changed in a day," he said. "This is a very complicated job. Especially when you sit in Russia", Nemow told reporters.