Vivacom, the largest Bulgarian revenue telecom, filed a complaint against the US giant Apple in the Bulgarian Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC), a notice posted on the regulator's website. The complaint of the home company is related to the iPhone's best-selling product of the US company. Upon request from Money.bg,

Vivacom explained that it was "a possible abuse of a stronger position on Apple's deal with a direct contract with Vivacom to distribute iPhone-branded phones." The Bulgarian telecom is the only one of three native mobile operators, which traditionally does not offer the best-selling premium-class mobile phone - the iPhone. At the end of last year, a message was released that Vivacom customers will be able to buy the new models from the operator, but to date they are not available on the company's website.

According to the domestic legislation, the sanction for a similar breach is 10 per cent of the company's revenue from the activity in which it was committed. Apple has not provided an exact number for the iPhone sold, but in the financial year 2018 total sales of the US giant, whose market capitalization is $ 935 billion, are over $ 265 billion. The appeal comes at a time when Vivacom is preparing for sale. The company has hired Lazard as a consultant on the deal, and preliminary estimates indicate that the company can be estimated at € 1.2 billion.