Gazprom’s decision to limit supply despite rising demand is a significant challenge and has prompted regulators to look into energy supplies, including those of the Russian company, said the European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, according to Bloomberg and Reuters.

“We have sent questionnaires to a number of energy suppliers in this area. We have a lot of answers but we are still waiting for others, including from Gazprom. We look forward to hearing from them to make progress in our analysis,” the EU official told a press conference.

The issue of high energy prices is the top priority of the European Commission, Vestager assured.

In recent weeks, gas prices in Europe have risen to a record high following a slowdown in Russian deliveries in the middle of winter. Russia is also accused of not delivering additional gas to Europe via Ukraine, due to tensions between Moscow and Kiev, but Russian authorities have denied the allegations. The West suspects Russia of voluntarily limiting deliveries in order to put pressure on Europeans and win in some cases, including obtaining approvals for the launch of the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline, according to Agerpres.

On Wednesday, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, accused Russia of stifling natural gas supplies to Europe at a time of “heightened geopolitical tensions over Ukraine.”

Fatih Birol said the IEA believes that Russia has not provided at least a third of the gas it could have sent to Europe, while using the storage facilities it controls on the continent to create the impression that reduced deliveries.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, Russian gas supplies to Europe fell by 25% compared to the same period in 2020, and are 22% lower than before the pandemic, according to data from the International Energy Agency.