Bulgaria 2003

Score = 20

Governed by: Law on Competition Protection of 1998, last amended by SC no. 107/2003 (“the Competition Act”).

Category	Subcategory	Score	Comment
Scope	Extraterritoriality	1	Article 2(1) says that the Competition Act applies to anything that has an effect within Bulgaria.
Remedies	Fines	1	Articles 59 and 60 provide guidelines for the imposition of fines.
	Prison Sentences	0
	Divestitures	1	Article 27(4) allows for divestitures in the case of unauthorized or improperly authorized mergers.
Private Enforcement	3rd Party Initiation	1	Article 36(1)(1) allows injured 3rd parties to initiate proceedings.
	Remedies Available to 3rd Parties	0
	3rd Party Rights in Proceedings	1	Article 43 allows parties who have participated in proceedings to appeal decisions. Article 51(1)(5) allows parties access to evidence, and Article 52(4) states that third parties will be summoned to hearings.
Merger Notification	Voluntary	0
	Mandatory	3	Article 24 requires prior notification of all mergers between companies with a combined annual turnover of BGN 15 million.
	Pre-merger	2	See above.
	Post-merger	0
Merger Assessment	Dominance	1	Article 27(1) says that the resultant market share is a consideration in merger assessment.
	Restriction of Competition	1	Article 27(1) lists several aspects of restriction of competition to consider in merger assessment.
	Public Interest (Pro D)	1	Article 28(2) allows otherwise impermissible mergers for public interest reasons.
	Public Interest (Pro Authority)	0
	Other	0
	Efficiency	1	Article 28(2) allows some otherwise prohibited mergers if they modernize production or the economy.
Dominance	Limits Access	1	Article 18(2) prohibits limiting production
	Abusive Acts	1	Article 18 prohibits abusing a dominant position.
	Price Setting	1	Article 18(1) prohibits price fixing.
	Discriminatory Pricing	1	Article 18(3) prohibits applying different conditions to equivalent transactions.
	Resale Price Maintenance	0
	Obstacles to Entry	0
	Efficiency Defense	0
Restrictive Trade Practices	Price Fixing	1	Article 9(1)(1) prohibits price fixing.
	Tying	1	Article 9(1)(5) prohibits tying arrangements.
	Market Division	0
	Output Restraint	1	Article 9(1)(3) prohibits limiting production.
	Market Sharing	1	Article 9(1)(2) prohibits market sharing.
	Eliminating Competitors	0
	Collusive Tendering/Bid-Rigging	0
	Supply Refusal	0
	Efficiency Defense	1	Article 13 exempts from the Article 9 prohibitions agreements that contribute to improving production of goods or promote technical or economic progress.