Bulgarian Anti-Trust Body to Consider Inercom's Updated Notice on CEZ Assets Deal
Bulgaria's competition authority said that it is going to consider an updated notice from Sofia-based Inercom regarding the company's proposed acquisition of the local assets of Czech energy group CEZ. Interested parties can submit their statements regarding the deal by December 21, according to a notice drafted by Inercom and published on the website of the Commission for Protection of Competition last week. Inercom and the companies which it intends to acquire do not operate on the same market segments and the deal will not affect competition, the Bulgarian company said in the notice. In July, the anti-trust body banned the deal, saying it will lead to the establishing of a dominant position on the photovoltaic power generation market. Later that month Inercom and CEZ both appealed the decision before Bulgaria's Supreme Administrative Court. Subsequently, Inercom sold its photovoltaic business in order to address the concerns of the competition authority and asked for the start of new proceedings. The Commission for Protection of Competition declined to consider Inercom's request, saying that the initial proceedings had not been closed, as its decision was being challenged in court.