Bulgaria: Competition regulator fines electricity distributor

Bulgaria’s competition regulator said on November 6 that it has fined electricity distribution firm Energo-Pro Sales 14.4 million leva, about 7.4 million euro, for abusing its dominant market position.

The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) said that the distribution company had denied service to a company in the Novi Pazar industrial zone without justifiable cause over a period of six years. The total fine was calculated by multiplying the base fine – 2.4 million leva or 0.5 per cent of Energo-Pro’s turnover for 2014 – by the number of years that the electricity distributor refused to provide the service.

At the same time, other customers in the immediate proximity were serviced without problems, the regulator said, adding that such behaviour as liable to have a negative impact on competition and breach consumer rights.

CPC said that the company’s denial of service was in breach of the regulations and mandated that Energo-Pro Sales to begin electricity deliveries within 30 days of the regulator’s ruling, while also requiring the firm to notify CPC whether it has done so no later than three months after the regulator’s ruling.

Full content: The Sofia Globe

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