Gazprom investment. On 5 July 2006, the Federal Law, "On Gas Export", was passed, nearly unanimously, by the State Duma and on the 7 July 2006, by the Federation Council. On 18 July Putin signed the new legislation and on 20 July 2006, the law was published. It gave Gazprom the exclusive right to export natural gas from Russia. On 4 September 2012, the European Commission, a Brussels-based competition watchdog, announced an anti-trust investigation into Gazprom's activities. This was based on "concerns that Gazprom may be abusing its dominant market position in upstream gas supply markets." On 21 May 2014, in
Gazprom kilometres of gas trunk lines. Projects include Nord Stream and South Stream. In 2011, Gazprom produced about of natural gas, more than seventeen percent of global gas production. Gazprom also produced about 32.3 million tons of crude oil and nearly 12.1 million tons of gas condensate. The company has subsidiaries in industrial sectors including finance, media and aviation, and majority stakes in other companies. In 1943, during World War II, the government of the Soviet Union developed a domestic gas industry. In 1965, it centralized gas exploration, development, and distribution within the Ministry of Gas Industry. In the 1970s and