Bulgarian antitrust office imposes fine on CEZ's firms - press

Prague, June 30 (CTK) - The Bulgarian antitrust office has imposed a fine of BGN4.4m (Kc60m) on three Bulgarian companies of Czech power utility CEZ for abusing their dominant position, according to agency SeeNews, today's daily E15 reported.

CEZ denies abusing its dominant position and will likely appeal against the decision.

The fine concerns a contract that CEZ Electro Bulgaria, CEZ Distribution and CEZ Bulgaria closed with company Fast Pay in 2016. The companies decided to withdraw from the deal and Fast Pay had to renegotiate the contract, E15 said.

Fast Pay ultimately agreed to provide services for CEZ without making any profits to maintain its clients, according to SeeNews.

CEZ finds the regulator's decision surprising because it had arrived at the opposite conclusion before, CEZ spokeswoman Alice Horakova told E15.

CEZ's companies operate strictly in line with the Bulgarian and European legislation, including the anti-monopoly law, she said.

CEZ entered the Bulgarian market in 2004 but it has decided to leave because of disputes with local authorities that have been going on since February 2013.

In 2016, CEZ launched arbitration against the Bulgarian government, demanding hundreds of millions of euros. CEZ says that the government failed to protect its investment in the country.

CEZ's Bulgarian distribution company supplies electricity to about three million people. Bulgaria has a population of 7.1 million.

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