Antitrust: Commission sends Statement of Objections to Bulgarian Energy Holding for suspected abuse of dominance on Bulgarian wholesale electricity market | WPN World People News

The European Commission has informed Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) of its preliminary view that territorial restrictions on resale contained in BEH's electricity supply contracts with traders on the non-regulated Bulgarian wholesale electricity market may breach EU antitrust rules. Such restrictions limit purchasers' freedom to choose where to resell the electricity bought from BEH. The sending of a Statement of Objections does not prejudge the final outcome of the investigation.

The Commission has concerns that BEH, the incumbent state-owned vertically-integrated energy company in Bulgaria, might be hindering competition on the non-regulated wholesale electricity market in Bulgaria by imposing restrictions on where the electricity supplied by BEH may be resold.

The Statement of Objections sets out that a majority of electricity supply contracts entered into between BEH and traders stipulate that electricity supplied by BEH may only be resold within Bulgaria or may only be exported. The contracts also contain control and sanctioning mechanisms which allow BEH to monitor and punish customers who fail to comply with these territorial restrictions.

The Commission's provisional finding is that these territorial restrictions constitute an abuse of BEH's dominant market position, which is prohibited by Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Such behaviour, if established, has the effect of distorting the allocation of electricity within the Single Market, affecting liquidity and efficiency of electricity markets and raising artificial barriers to trade between Bulgaria and other Member States.

Source:　European Commission