Bulgaria's anti-trust regulator established that Lukoil Bulgaria is not guilty of abuse of dominant position on the local fuel retail market.
An examination of the company's relations with its wholesale clients in the five-year period under review did not find evidence of obstruction of market competition, the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) said in a statement on Monday.
Burgas-based refinery Lukoil Neftochim and Lukoil Aviation Bulgaria did not breach competition laws by refusing to supply jet fuel to airports and carriers on Bulgarian territory as the temporary problems with supplies last July were the result of circumstances which had arisen independently of their will, the statement added.
CPC launched in late March a cartel probe into retailers Lukoil Bulgaria, Rompetrol Bulgaria, Naftex Petrol and OMV Bulgaria in connection with their selling prices.