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The European Commission is conducting probes in a number of Bulgarian energy companies as part of a larger campaign to root out anticompetitive practices in Central and Eastern Europe.
Bulgarian gas supplier Overgas Inc, which had agreed to cooperate in the investigation, welcomed the teams of inspectors on its premises, providing all the data required, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
Overgas, 50% owned by Russian Gazprom, also took care to remind that the probes into the alleged abuse of dominant position on the Bulgarian gas market were of particular concern for state-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz EAD, currently the sole company with access to the Bulgarian gas transmission grid.
EC's actions in Bulgaria are part of a series of "dawn raids" initiated Tuesday to uncover possible anti-competitive practices at 10 natural gas companies in Central and Eastern Europe.
"The European Commission can confirm that, today, commission officials undertook unannounced inspections at the premises of companies active in the supply, transmission and storage of natural gas in several member states," the EC said in a statement.
"The commission has concerns that the companies concerned may have engaged in anti-competitive practices in breach of EU antitrust rules or that they are in possession of information relating to such practices," it said.
The EC explained its investigation predominantly targeted upstream supply level, where competition may be restricted unilaterally or through agreements.
The gas companies being investigated were suspected of exclusionary behavior, such as "market partitioning, obstacles to network access, barriers to supply diversification, as well as possible exploitative behavior, such as excessive pricing."
EU antitrust rules prohibit abuse of dominant positions and restrictive business practices.
Unannounced inspections are normal procedure and a preliminary step into suspected anti-competitive practices, the EC went on to say.
There is no legal deadline to complete the antitrust investigations.
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