Bulgaria's BEH, Units to Appeal 77 Mln Euro Fine by European Commission
The state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) said that it intends to challenge, together with its units Bulgartransagaz and Bulgargaz, the 77.1 million euro ($88.4 million) fine imposed on the companies by the European Commission for blocking competitors' access to key gas infrastructure. "BEH and its units do not accept the Commission's conclusions that they have abused their dominant position on Bulgaria's gas market," BEH said in a statement on Wednesday."In addition, the companies find the size of the fine clearly disproportionate," BEH added. Although the deadline for paying the fine is three months following the decision, in case of an appeal BEH is allowed to make either a provisional payment, which could be reimbursed if BEH appeals the fine successfully, or to provide a guarantee. Earlier this week, the Commission said that between 2010 and 2015, the BEH group blocked access to the sole import pipeline bringing gas into Bulgaria, the country's only gas storage facility - Chiren, and the domestic gas transmission network.