Bulgaria Appeals Gas Anti-Trust Fine

Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and two subsidiaries have filed an appeal against a European Commission (EC) ruling and fine over violations of EU anti-trust regulations.

The appeal was launched February 28. Bulgarian Energy Holding, along with gas supplier Bulgargaz and gas infrastructure operator Bulgartransgaz “do not accept the commission’s findings that they have abused a dominant position on the Bulgarian gas market,” a statement reads. “The application aims at annulment of the decision of the European Commission and the fine imposed.”

The EC said December 17 that, between 2010 and 2015, BEH and its subsidiaries blocked access to the Bulgarian gas transmission network, its storage and import pipelines. A total of €77mn ($87mn) in fines was handed to the Bulgarian state-owned companies.

Competition will give Bulgarian consumers better prices and a choice of gas suppliers, said the EC, which would be further helped by the planned opening in 2021 of the IGB gas interconnector between Bulgaria and Greece, for which the EC has committed funding, and the Bulgaria–Romania–Hungary–Austria (Brua) pipeline.