Bulgarian regulator accuses LUKOIL's subsidiary of abusing its market position

The Bulgarian Competition Protection Commission (CPC) has recognized that LUKOIL Bulgaria is abusing its dominant position on the country's fuel market. The regulator said in a statement. "Group companies have abused their dominant position through a number of actions that include refusing to provide fuel acceptance and storage services at their own tax depots, limiting access to tax depots connected to the largest offshore oil terminals in the countries, and not providing access to the group's oil pipelines to transport imported fuel," the statement said. CPC considers that all these actions were part of the strategy of the group "to create barriers to the import of fuel into the country. Ilshat Sharafutdinov, chairman of the board of LUKOIL Neftochim Burgas (which operates in the Balkans), told TASS that the CPC's decision is now under study. "I can stress that we have not violated any rules on the Bulgarian fuel market," he said. According to the agency, the inspection of LUKOIL Bulgaria was initiated on November 2 at the initiative of OMV Bulgaria. This is not the first check-up against the company - in 2020 it was suspected of violation of competition rules when setting prices for gasoline and diesel fuel. The company also faced similar charges in 2011 and 2016.