LONDON, April 26 (UPI) -- Britain will permit Russia's state-owned OAO Gazprom natural gas conglomerate to bid for Centrica PLC, which owns British Gas.
News that London would not oppose Moscow's effort to buy a piece of the British energy industry came as Gazprom's chief said he was, indeed, looking at Centrica, the Telegraph reported Wednesday.
It also comes despite European concerns that the Kremlin could use any energy-related leverage it has over Europe for blackmail, as was the case last winter when the Kremlin, which controls Gazprom, decided to nearly quadruple the cost of natural gas shipments to Ukraine. When Kiev resisted, Moscow curtailed supplies.
Meanwhile, Gazprom's deputy chief executive, Alexander Medvedev, repeated his interest in Centrica. However, he said there had been no direct discussions between Gazprom and Centrica.
