Bulgaria’s competition watchdog fines Sofia heating utility
Bulgaria’s Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) said on February 25 that it fined Toplofikatsiya Sofia, the state-owned heating utility in the Bulgarian capital city, 338 000 leva for abuse of dominant market position.
The regulator said the utility was involved in activities meant to prevent a potential rival from entering the market. “For three months, between December 2011 and March 2012, the utility refused to sign a contract with PMU Engineering to carry out services and, in the meantime, took action to attract is competitor’s customers,” CPC said in a statement.
At the same time, the utility did not notify its customers that they would have to change their meters – of a brand that only PMU Engineering could take measurements – in case customers signed contracts with Toplofikatsiya.
CPC said that its fine was based on Toplofikatsiya’s 2011 financial results and took into account the length of the violation.
(Photo: jaime06492/sxc.hu)
