On October 24, 2023, the Administrative Board of the Western Interregional Territorial Branch of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine adopted a decision recognizing the actions of JSC Lvivgaz as a violation of the legislation on the protection of economic competition in the form of abuse of a monopoly (dominant) position on the market of services for connecting the customer’s facility to the gas distribution system.
During the consideration of the case, the Department established that JSC “Lvivgaz” in the period from January 2020 to April 2023 imposed an additional condition on the customers of the service of connecting the object to the gas distribution system, namely: to agree on the project for internal gas supply systems with the gas distribution enterprise, in which while, according to the technical conditions of connection, the measurement point (the place of installation of the commercial metering unit) is defined in the gas networks of external gas supply, which is not provided for by the current legislation of Ukraine.
The second paragraph of Clause 8 of Chapter 2 of Chapter V of the Code of Gas Distribution Systems establishes that if the technical conditions of connection of the measurement point (place of installation of a commercial metering unit) will be determined in the gas networks of internal gas supply, the internal gas supply project must provide for measures for the organization of the metering unit and an estimated part regarding implementation of these measures, and the internal gas supply project itself in terms of the organization of the metering unit and the cost estimate for the organization of the metering unit must be agreed with the Operator of the Timing System. Approval is carried out by the Timing Operator within a period not exceeding 15 days, or during the same period a comprehensive list of comments is provided (if available).
Since the technical conditions provide for the installation of a gas metering unit in the gas networks of external gas supply, approval of the internal gas supply project by the Timing Operator is not required.
The Company’s actions are classified under the first part of Article 13 and Clause 2 of Article 50 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of Economic Competition” as abuse of a monopoly (dominant) position on the market. A fine of 68,000 hryvnias was imposed on JSC “Lvivgaz” for the committed violation.