Remedies Imposed On Fuel Companies Following Cartel Investigations

For the second time in less than five years, the Bulgarian Commission for the Protection of Competition ("Commission") has opened investigation proceedings regarding prohibited agreements and concerted practices against the major fuel companies in Bulgaria and closed them without issuing penalties.

In this case, the implicated companies were:

Shell Bulgaria; Rompetrol Bulgaria EAD; Eko Bulgaria EAD; OMV Bulgaria OOD; Petrol AD; NIS Petrol EOOD; Lukoil Bulgaria EOOD; and the Bulgarian Gas and Petrol Association. Investigation

The investigation was launched following a 2015 Commission sector analysis of the fuel and diesel retail markets.

The Commission found indications of price parallelism which was not economically justified. In particular, it found that the retail price of some petrol companies in Bulgaria did not always follow the wholesale price and producers' prices. Thus, when the wholesale price and producers' prices increased, the retail prices of some market participants were adjusted in a relatively short period. However, when the wholesale price and producers' prices decreased, the retail price of the same market participants was adjusted more slowly and not always in corresponding percentages.

Correspondence

Dawn raids were conducted on the premises of some of the investigated parties during the proceedings. The Commission found evidence of email exchanges among representatives of different petrol companies. However, the content of the emails could not be made public as sensitive information had to be redacted. Based on the public information, it was evident that Eko Bulgaria was especially active in communication, as it had the largest number of emails discovered. Thus, for instance, in correspondence between Eko Bulgaria and Lukoil, Lukoil sent tables with information about market shares. Information was also exchanged regarding the opening of petrol stations by new market player Mareshki. Also, in correspondence from NIS Petrol, comments by employees were found saying that the fuel's margin had been at its highest in the past 10 years...