Europe's anti-trust regulator has accused Russia's massive gas monopoly, Gazprom, of unfair pricing practices in Moscow's former satellite states of eastern Europe, launching a legal dispute that could result in multibillion-euro fines for the Kremlin's energy company.

The "statement of objections" issued by the EU commissioner for competition, Margrethe Vestager, accuses the world's biggest gas producer of charging eight EU member states in eastern Europe up to 40 per cent more for their gas than elsewhere in the EU. The company manipulated contracts and included clauses barring clients from exporting gas more cheaply in the EU, according to the commission.

Last week, Ms Vestager issued charges against Google because of the search engine's alleged manipulation of its market dominance to lure browsers towards its shopping services.

– (Guardian service)