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Figure 7. Price of transport fuels in EU countries in 2012. Euro per litre.<br />
Source: EUROSTAT<br />
MUBARIZ HASANOV<br />
50<br />
set by mutual agreements between<br />
importers and exporters, and hence<br />
reflect the relative bargaining power<br />
of the parties. The bargaining power<br />
of the parties depends on the level of<br />
diversification of supplies. As a general<br />
rule, the higher the level of supply<br />
diversification, the lower the gas<br />
prices. In fact, as can be seen from the<br />
figure, the Central and Eastern European<br />
(CEE) countries, which depend<br />
on only Russia for gas supplies, paid<br />
higher prices in comparison to Western<br />
European countries. In addition,<br />
the level of market openness and<br />
liberalisation also affects natural gas<br />
prices. For example, Austria and Belgium<br />
have some of the lowest market<br />
prices in the EU, mainly due to the<br />
development of the energy hubs in<br />
these countries.<br />
Natural gas prices for household consumers<br />
in European countries are<br />
Figure 8. Wholesale and/or import prices of natural gas in EU countries.<br />
Source: EUROSTAT
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