Brussels, 23/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 23 March, the European Commission announced that it had sent a statement of objections to the Bulgarian public energy company, Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), to notify it of its preliminary view that the company may have violated EU rules on cartels and abuse of dominant position by hindering its competitors from accessing essential gas infrastructure in Bulgaria. The statement of objections has also been sent to BEH's gas supply subsidiary, Bulgargaz, and its gas infrastructure subsidiary, Bulgartransgaz.
BEH is vertically integrated, the Commission explains, which means that it supplies gas and its subsidiaries own or control the domestic Bulgarian gas transmission network, the only gas storage facility in Bulgaria and the capacity on the main gas import pipeline into the country.
The Commission opened proceedings in July 2013 and, at this stage, has concerns that BEH and its subsidiaries may be preventing competitors from gaining access to the gas transmission network and the gas storage facility and reserving capacity they do not need on the gas import pipeline.
In August 2014, as part of a separate investigation, the Commission sent BEH a statement of objections regarding possible territorial restrictions in electricity supply contracts entered into by BEH with traders on the non-regulated Bulgarian wholesale electricity market. (Élodie Lamer)