Russian politicians and industrialists have criticised EU plans aimed at shielding European energy assets from foreign takeover and threatened to take reciprocal measures.

Alexander Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, said energy proposals unveiled yesterday by the European Commission were unfair.

"Such limits are against the free market spirit of the European Union and amount to state protectionism at the level of the EU . . . It could lead to serious damage for Russian companies that want to have long-term contracts with European consumers."

The proposals would only allow non-EU energy firms to take control of European gas pipelines and electrical networks if their home state had signed a bilateral deal with the EU. It was added to counter fears that Russian energy giant Gazprom wants to buy energy distribution firms in Europe to increase its leverage in the market.

The state-run company is already the biggest supplier of gas to the EU and there is increasing concern about the leverage this gives it on the European market.

The EU also wants Russia to open its own market to European investment and has unsuccessfully lobbied Russia to sign an energy charter for more than a decade.

Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the Duma's (parliament) international affairs committee, said Moscow should not panic but react by taking reciprocal measures.