Competition Commission Launches Proceedings to Establish Fuel Market Cartel Agreements The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) has launched proceedings to establish malpractice with dominant position and anti-competition practices (cartel agreements) on the markets for sale of fuels, the Commission said Thursday. CPC has accepted a sectoral analysis of the competitive environment and sale of fuels in Bulgaria. The survey shows that there is a certain identity in the pricing policy on the retail trade market applied by the companies Shell Bulgaria RAD, Rompetrol Bulgaria EAD, Eco Bulgaria OOD, OMV Bulgaria OOD, Petrol AD, NIS Petrol EOOD and Lukoil Bulgaria EOOD. This is distinguished by continuous high retail prices and the lack of timely and adequate reaction to the downward trend of wholesale prices and production prices, which could be the result of anti-competition practices in the form of cartel agreements. In respect to Lukoil Neftochim Bourgas AD, the sectoral survey shows that over the studied period the price of motor vehicle fuels for the domestic market is higher than that offered by the company for exports under similar conditions. Non-market factors can also influence the production prices of oil products in Bulgaria, CPS says. Thereby, Lukoil can receive additional benefits from its operation in Bulgaria, particularly in view of the fact that it is a prominent producer, importer and leader in the local market in Bulgaria CPC has also established the existence of administrative and legal barriers before the fuel suppliers at national level, related to the functioning of tax warehouses in this country. It is a particular problem that a large portion of the suppliers do not have their own tax warehouses because they cannot meet the requirements of the law to develop and register such. These include an initial capital of BGN 500,000 and warranties of up to BGN 30 million. CPC recommends that stat authorities undertake the necessary actions to ease the access of merchants to excise warehouses. This can be done by means of bilateral agreements with other EU member states for reciprocal storage of obligatory oil and oil product storage on their territory.
Source: Capital (26.02.2016)

The Commission for Protection of Competition (KZK) carried on Tuesday out a sudden inspection of the Bulgarian Petroleum and Gas Association based in Sofia. The association is a non-governmental organisation protecting the interests of producers, distributors and retailers of oil and gas products. The inspection, which was conducted jointly with the police, is part of KZK's investigation into a suspected cartel agreement between fuel retailers in Bulgaria. During the inspection, KZK has the right to seize all written and other material evidence as well as means for dissemination of information. The investigation was launched in February after KZK had conducted its latest analysis of the fuel market, giving it grounds to probe into a suspected cartel agreement between fuel retailers. Seven fuel retailers - Lukoil Bulgaria, Shell Bulgaria, Rompetrol Bulgaria, Eco Bulgaria, OMV Bulgaria, Petrol and NIS Petrol as well as the Lukoil Neftochim oil refinery in Burgas are being investigated for abuse of dominant market position.
Source: Standart (22.03.2016)

Recently established Bulgarian filling station operator VM Petroleum plans to open up to five new petrol stations throughout the country in the next few weeks, its owner, local businessman Veselin Mareshki, said on Friday. In an interview broadcast by Bulgaria ON AIR, Mareshki, who currently runs three petrol stations selling fuel at prices significantly below the average, declined to name the locations of the new ones, but said they will be outside of the capital of Sofia. In Sofia, VM Petroleum has purchased two land plots, where it plans to build petrol stations by the end of July. Mareshki, who entered the fuel retail business last year offering prices some 20% below the market average, said the total amount of his project, including the existing petrol stations in Varna, Aytos and Gabrovo and the planned seven more, exceeds 150 million levs ($85.7 million/76.8 million euro). Mareshki also owns a chain of drug stores in the country, which also was started with below market prices. On Wednesday, Lukoil Bulgaria asked local regulators to check the origin of petrol products supplied by VM Petroleum. At the end of February, Bulgaria's competition watchdog launched an investigation for price fixing against seven fuel distributors - Shell Bulgaria, Rompetrol Bulgaria, EKO Bulgaria, OMV Bulgaria, Petrol, NIS Petrol and Lukoil Bulgaria. banner
Source: Standart (28.03.2016)

Bulgaria's Competition Regulator Conducts Inspections at Lukoil, Rompetrol Officials of the Commission for Protection of Competition (KZK) are conducting sudden inspections at the offices of Lukoil Bulgaria and Rompetrol Bulgaria on Wednesday The inspections are conducted in cooperation with the police and are part of the investigation of suspected cartel agreement between seven fuel retailers and the Lukoil Neftochim oil refinery in Burgas. KZK launched the investigation in February after conducting its latest sector analysis of the fuel market, which gave it grounds to investigate suspected abuse of dominant market position. The analysis pointed that although retailers supply their stations with fuels not produced at the Lukoil refinery, they have identical price policy which does not differ to the prices at petrol stations run by Lukoil. During the inspection, KZK has the right to seize all kind of written and other material evidence as well as means for the dissemination of information. Apart from Lukoil and Rompetrol, the other retailers subject to investigation are Shell Bulgaria, Eco Bulgaria, OMV Bulgaria, Petrol and NIS Petrol. In March, KZK carried out an inspection at the Bulgarian Petroleum and Gas Association.
Source: investor.bg (07.04.2016)

Competition Regulator Carries out Inspection at OMV Bulgaria Officials of the Commission for Protection of Competition (KZK) are conducting a sudden inspection at the premises of OMV Bulgaria on Monday.The inspection is part of the investigation into alleged cartel agreement between seven fuel retailers and the Lukoil Nefthochim oil refinery in Burgas. KZK launched the investigation in February after conducting its latest sector analysis of the fuel market, which gave it grounds to investigate suspected abuse of dominant market position. The analysis established that although fuel retailers supply their petrol stations with fuels not produced at the Lukoil refinery, they have identical price policy which does not differ from that of petrol stations run by Lukoil. During the inspection, KZK has the right to seize all kind of written and other material evidence as well as means for the dissemination of data. Apart from OMV, the other six fuel retailers suspected of being part of the cartel agreement are Shell Bulgaria, Eko Bulgaria, Lukoil Bulgaria, Rompetrol Bulgaria, Petrol and NIS Petrol.
Source: Sega (26.04.2016)

Bulgarian regulator finds 6 fuel retailers in breach of competition rules Bulgaria's competition regulator on Monday accused six fuel retailers, including the local units of international oil majors, of acting in collusion to fix the prices of petrol and diesel. Following inspections at the offices of the fuel retailers, the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) concluded that Lukoil Bulgaria, Eko Bulgaria, Shell Bulgaria, OMV Bulgaria, Nis Petrol, and Petrol had entered into an agreement to exchange price information and coordinate their pricing policies, the anti-trust regulator said in a statement on its website. The CRS also said that the price-fixing agreements and coordinated practices of the companies breached both the national competition legislation and the EU's anti-trust regulations. The concerned companies have the right to dispute the CRC conclusions in writing within 30 days and ask the regulator to hear their objections in an open-door session. The regulator launched the cartel probe in February. Petrol is owned by Naftex Bulgaria Holding, Lukoil Bulgaria is part of Russia's Lukoil, and Shell Bulgaria is a unit of Royal Dutch Shell. EKO Bulgaria is part of the Greece's Hellenic Petroleum group. OMV Bulgaria is part of Austria-based OMV Aktiengesellschaft. NIS Petrol is the wholly owned subsidiary of NIS, which is 56.15%-owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft and 29.9%-owned by the Serbian government.
Source: Dnevnik (11.10.2016)