site.btaAnti-Trust Commission Bars Inercom Bulgaria from Buying CEZ Assets in Bulgaria

Sofia, July 19 (BTA) - The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) has barred Inercom Bulgaria EAD from gaining control of CEZ Bulgaria EAD, CEZ Electro Bulgaria AD, CEZ Distribution Bulgaria AD, CEZ Trade Bulgaria EAD, Free Energy Project Oreshets EAD and Bara Group EOOD, the anti-trust commission said on its website Thursday.

The prospective deal between the Czech energy giant and the obscure Pazardjik-based Inercom caused major turmoil earlier in the year. The Government initially said it wanted to be part of the deal so as to secure smooth operation after the transition of ownership but then gave up the idea. In mid-March Parliament set up an ad hoc committee to look into the details of the intended purchase, including the source of the money the buyer would use, but failed to find out much more than was already known. At the end of the committee's term, its chair Zhelyu Boychev (Socialist) said it "remained unclear how a company of such [small] scale and volume of assets can acquire such a strategic business".

While the selling price of the assets has not been formally disclosed, media reports set it at 342.5 million euro.