Competition Authority Penalises A1 Bulgaria EAD For Cancelling Agreement

With Decision No. 1308 of 22  November 2018, the Commission for the Protection of Competition (the "CPC") fined A1 Bulgaria EAD ("A1") BGN 840,340 for cancelling a partnership agreement with its main commercial representative. The CPC decided that the cancellation was effectively a violation of Article 37a (1) of the Protection of Competition Act (the "PCA"), which prohibits abuse of dominant position when contracting.

The proceedings were opened at the request of Handy-Tel EOOD ("Handy"), which, by way of an agreement from 2005, has conducted its business mainly as an exclusive commercial representative of A1 by offering various telecommunication services on its behalf, as well as selling a wide range of mobile and computer devices. A1, formerly Mtel, is part of A1 Telecom Austria Group, a telecommunication supplier in Central and Eastern Europe with more than 24 million customers. A1 is one of three mobile operators in Bulgaria.