By Foo Yun Chee and Alissa de Carbonnel
BRUSSELS - Gazprom's (MM:GAZP) deputy chief executive will meet the EU competition chief next week, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, signalling progress in resolving antitrust charges against the Russian gas giant without a regulatory fine.
The Russian state-controlled company is fighting accusations of overcharging customers and blocking rivals in eastern Europe, practices which the European Commission say breach the bloc's rules ensuring a level playing field.
It is seeking to avoid a fine, which under EU rules could be up to $7.6 billion (5.41 billion pound), equal to 10 percent of its 2014 revenue, and settle the charges with concessions.
Both Gazprom and the European Commission have narrowed their differences on the issue and may soon find a solution, one of the sources said.
Gazprom supplies around a third of the 28-member EU's gas and a decision in the case, which has dragged on for nearly five years, comes amid continuing tension between the European Union and Russia over Ukraine, Syria and the proposed Nord Stream gas link to Germany.
Gazprom's deputy chief executive Alexander Medvedev will meet EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager in Brussels on March 9.
"The meeting will take stock of the settlement discussion. A certain degree of progress has been made which warrants another discussion. Things are going well but still far from a deal," said one of the sources.
A source at Gazprom Export confirmed the meeting plans. A Gazprom spokeswoman and European Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso both declined to comment.
Medvedev met Vestager in December and both sides agreed to continue talks aimed at resolving the case.
The European Commission however is still keeping its options open as Vestager has said it is also working on a decision to penalise Gazprom but would make a final decision later on which track to take.
The EU antitrust authority has said that Gazprom's gas price formula, which is linked to the price of oil, has led to consumers in Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Estonia and Latvia paying excessive prices compared with Germany.
Gazprom derives more than half of its revenues from Europe.
(The story has been refiled to add additional source and additional reporting line)