Lithuania's competition council has fined Gazprom a whopping $48 million for allegedly preventing competition in the Baltic state where the Russian gas monopoly is the sole supplier.

      Gazprom is facing another investigation into a possible breach of competition rules in the EU.

      Elsewhere, Moscow and Kiev are still in negotiations seeking a solution to the protracted gas dispute. The latest round of talks took place on June 9 in Brussels but didn’t lead to any breakthroughs.

      Gazprom issued a warning it would switch to advance payments with Ukraine after June 16 if it fails to repay its mounting debt currently standing at almost 5 billion, according to the Russian gas giant.

      In May, Russia signed an historic deal with China on natural gas supplies with a view to diversify its exports amid similar calls in Europe.

      The exact price has not been disclosed but it’s been reported that the 30-year contract for the supplies of 38 billion cubic meters of gas could bring Russia as much as $400 billion.