On 19 July 2018 the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition (“BCPC”) refused to approve two separate concentrations – the acquisition of the vertically integrated business of CEZ Group of companies (owned by CEZ a.s., Czech Republic) by Inercom EAD (Bulgaria) and the acquisition of Nova Broadcasting Group AD by PPF TMT (the Netherlands). Both…
By its Decision № 717 dated 28 June 2018 the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition (“the CPC”/”the Commission”) adopted a sector inquiry of a number of markets within the media sector. The decision contains some intriguing stances by the CPC, especially against the background of its own previous case law or the decisional practice…
Approximately 3 months after initiation of the sector inquiry into the media market in Bulgaria, the national Commission for Protection of Competition (the Commission) published its report on the conducted investigation. As intended, the Commission analysed the activities of all media service providers in the sector. The conclusions of the investigation, however, raise certain concerns…
After initiating sector inquiries on the banking and energy markets in the country the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition (the Commission) will investigate one more sector following a request from the Minister of Economy, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Culture to examine the competitive environment of the media market in Bulgaria….
On 13.03.2018 the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition (“BCPC”) published a decision finding that the Bulgarian National Television (“BNT”) and Nurts Digital EAD – a company operating in the sector of construction of networks and facilities in the TMT sector (“Nurts”) did not commit a breach of competition law. The BCPC was seized upon…
The Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) has launched a sector inquiry into the banking services market following their decision of 1 March 2018. The decision was triggered following a conducted overview of the current interest rates, fees and commissions published on the websites of the banks – members of the Association of Banks…
The Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition (“CPC”) has imposed fines on two out of the three integrated electricity companies in Bulgaria, part of the Austrian EVN group and the Czech CEZ group. The CPC initiated investigations against the three Bulgarian electricity distribution companies – CEZ, Energo-Pro and EVN and their affiliated end suppliers and…
Following a considerable delay and a threat by the European Commission to initiate infringement proceedings, Bulgaria finally implemented in its national law the provisions of the European Directive 2014/104/EU on Antitrust Damages Actions dated 26 November 2014 (the “Private Damages Directive”). On 3 January 2018 in the Bulgarian State Gazette was promulgated the Act for…
On 28.03.2017, the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition (the “Bulgarian Commission”) approved commitments by the leading Bulgarian oil companies Lukoil Bulgaria LTD; Eco Bulgaria JSC; Shell Bulgaria JSC, OMV Bulgaria LTD; NIS PETROL LTD. The ground for the initiation of the procedure concluded with the approval of commitments was the suspicion by the Bulgarian…
At the very end of 2016, the Bulgarian Supreme Administrative Court in its first-instance 3-member panel, confirmed one of the highest fines ever imposed by the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) back in 2012. The decision was issued following an investigation of the distribution network for Hyundai motor vehicles in Bulgaria which resulted…
