EU-Russian relations take another hit with Brussels’ charges against Gazprom.<br /><br /> The Russian gas giant was accused on Wednesday of overcharging customers in Eastern Europe and hindering competition.<br /><br /> Gazprom called the charges “unfounded” and Russia’s Foreign Minister said the EU was trying to retroactively apply new rules to long-standing contracts.<br /><br /> “That is absolutely unacceptable, at least because we have had the Partnership and Cooperation agreement with the EU from 1999 which no-one cancelled, and it is written there that the parties shall not take actions that will lead to the deterioration of business conditions,” Sergei Lavrov said.<br /><br /> The European Commission can hand fines of up to 10 percent of a company’s global sales – that could mean a penalty of $10 billion for Gazprom.<br /><br /> Brussels takes aim at firms who abuse their market position, and just last week it attacked U.S. giant Google.<br /><br /> “These cases are not political,” EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager told a ne
