Gazprom says RWE court decision won't bring additional pressure

Gazprom will not face additional pricing pressure from clients in Europe after an arbitration court decision forcing Gazprom to charge a key European customer, RWE , market prices for the gas it sells, the Russian company's CEO said on Friday.

European clients have lost billions of dollars in recent years due to a gap between Gazprom's prices, which are largely linked to costlier oil, and the spot markets for gas which guide the prices they can charge their own customers.

But instead of moving to spot pricing as rivals such as Statoil have done, Gazprom has stuck to a strategy of granting outright cuts in oil-linked prices to give its clients breathing room.

"I will not disclose the commercial side of (the decision). It is the confidential part of our contract. We take a positive view of the court decision on the whole," Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told a news conference after Gazprom's annual meeting.

(Reporting by Olesya Astakhova; Writing by Melissa Akin; Editing by Steve Gutterman)