Gazprom to Return $600 Million to EU Gas Buyers on Discounts

OAO Gazprom, Russia’s natural-gas export monopoly, will return at least 20 billion rubles ($600 million) this year to European buyers under agreements to award retroactive discounts, Chief Accountant Elena Vasilieva said.

Eni SpA, Italy’s biggest oil and gas producer, will receive “a lion’s share” of the payments, which totaled 20 billion rubles as of June, Vasilieva, who’s also a deputy chief executive officer, told reporters today in Moscow.