CPC – Conciliation Commission for Competition

Like a flash of clear skies – such an effect has produced two "convictions" from the Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC), said last week. The CCP has banned the famous Ginka Varbakova from taking over CEZ's business in Bulgaria. Czech billionaire Petr Keller, a candidate for the media group around Nova TV, In both cases, the anti-monopoly regulator has seen enormous threats to competition

The victims of both refusals continue to read the committee's arguments and do not believe their eyes. Meanwhile, the CCP's decisions triggered an avalanche of criticism and perplexity. Illiterate, ignorant, absurd – the commission has been so criticized by experts and badysts that only the resignation of its leaders could erase the shame. But parties in parliament applaud the committee (BSP and Patriots), GERB expresses respect for the body and no one speaks of resignations

The whole country bristled when it learned that a small shopkeeper from Pazardzhik had asked to get her hands on the energy network of a third of Bulgaria. The lernom experience in the energy sector is exhausted by several photovoltaic systems. But now that the anti-monopoly regulator takes Ginka Varbakova too seriously, she fears that if she joins her power to CEZ's badets, the unification will become an unacceptable economic force.

The CPC even believes that the agreement lernom to jeopardize national security – but not because Varbakova does not understand the management of power grids, but because she would acquire too many badets and of market power.

And in the other transaction, the motives are similar – the Nova TV band is too big and you are and the Czech billionaire (his investment fund) Petr Kellner can not l & # 39; buy because it will have too much influence on the media market

What criteria does the CPC place on the risks of competition? A whole lot of energy experts have already considered the idea of ​​big risks. They calculated that if Iernom bought CEZ 's activities in Bulgaria, it would have only 2.5% of the total photovoltaic installed in the country and would control less than 1% of the production of electricity. electricity. Is it a risk ?! The CPC itself has a methodology for determining market shares and says there is no need to worry if someone acquires up to 15% of the market share. A market

The decision now shows that the Czech CEZ will be able to get rid of its Bulgarian earnings only if it is caught with a buyer who has not felt the electricity in Bulgaria

For example, some young off the coast …

The same goes for the refusal of the "Nova" case. There is evidence that the Nova Group currently holds between 40% and 50% of the television advertising market, between 30% and 40% of the distribution market and between 10% and 20% in the Internet advertising market. CPC now denies Petr Kellner access to such market influence. But with similar data last year, the CPC allowed BAT to buy Bulgartabac's cigarette brands. The total market share of Bulgarian BT Holding and the foreign investor was estimated at 40-50%, but this did not disturb Yulia Nenkova's team.

According to the law, when the badysis of a transaction at first reading was worrisome, you must move on to the next step – do a "thorough study". It is suspect that in the case of CEZ, the Commission directly imposes a "veto of the case" without conducting a comprehensive study. And in the other case, there is strangeness. On July 11, CPC announced that it had doubts about the possibility that the acquisition of Nova TV Group from the Kellner Fund could give rise to a dangerous power on the market, so that She will do a detailed badysis. So good. But the detailed investigation broke out, and as early as July 19, the regulator has surprisingly banned the case.

Before Ginka Varbakova's "red card", the CCP missed many other troubling and criticized cases with carefree ease. Yes, months ago, public opinion literally exploded in the sensational news that a small fish like the lady of Pazardjik wants to swallow a whale like the CEZ's Bulgarian group and now it seems that the CCP responds to public anxiety that real buyers are hiding behind Ginka. But the suspicions of the affiliated companies floated in other cases – for Bulgartabac, for BTC, for the Municipal Bank. And the CPC let them go. In 2014, the regulator allowed a mysterious offshore to privatize the Bulgartabac Holding, hiding favorably the name of the final owner with a ridiculous explanation – he was an ordinary citizen of another country without a business in Bulgaria, and we were not sure. No need to know who he was. The CPC did not have any fluctuations and remarks on the transaction – it was to take over 50% of the tobacco market in Bulgaria. It was also important to acquire a significant share of the newspaper and magazine market, because Tobacco Market, which is part of the BT holding and owns the famous Lafka chain, sold a number of companies. press distribution. But then the CPC was nice.

The same committee has long wondered whether there has been an illegal reconciliation of gasoline and diesel prices, ending with endless market badyzes, and then, under the pressure of public discontent , finds signs of cartelisation that big gas stations are a reference for fair and transparent competition

Last year, it was hard to say that the circles around Prime Minister Borisov and MP Delyan Peevsky had took a look at Nova TV. Then the Czech billionaire appeared and the rumors disappeared. CPC's refusal to launch the Kellner case logically leads to the question of who the commission is working for.

The truth is that when it comes to transactions for hundreds of millions of dollars and for key badets, it's hard to know who the writers and puppeteers are. We can only guess.

Meanwhile, the CCP's decision against Innercom seriously injured CEZ, in which the Czech state holds a serious stake. The news collapsed CEZ shares on stock exchanges – both in Sofia and Prague. According to one of the theories, it is the purpose of the people who inspired the negative decision – crush the quotas, lower the price, and someone to pay the CEZ badets significantly less expensive than the 320 million euros currently offered by Innercom.

Now, the question is whether the lawyers of the candidate buyers will attack the CPC's refusals in court. If they do, it will be important to know which groups will look into the business and what the judges will do. Nothing is yet over

And how did the main political forces react to the "convictions" of the CCP?

While the experts explained how unflattering the two transactions were, the ruling parliament and the opposition praised and defended the regulator. GERB explained that they believe in the "professionalism" of the CPC. The patriots applauded. BSP congratulated Julia Nenkova's team for her "courage". The "courage" of the Committee gave the Socialists and other populists a good opportunity to take the old song, the state to resume the PDE,

"The CPC decision on the case CEZ is political, nothing to do with the law, 28 pages of empty speeches with clear evidence that there is no market concentration and another demonstration that the power can only be independent regulators ". Radan Kanev. "The case of Ginka Varbakova has arisen because of the disgust that the big investors surround Bulgaria, and the way the power has solved it – by an illegal political decision of the CCP – only reinforces their fears." The 28-page CPC hit the company. clicked – on the one hand, we want the power grid falls into the hands of an investor who has the experience and money to manage such an important energy infrastructure, and the decision to CPC slamming the door in front of such a player – because he [19659903] Confidence in institutions in Bulgaria is extremely weak, and recent events prove that the bottom was not reached