On 3 January 2018, the act implementing the Private Damages
Directive into Bulgarian law was published in the Official Gazette
(the "Act"). The Private Damages
Directive was adopted to facilitate efforts by victims of cartels
and abuses of dominant positions to claim compensation, by
harmonizing the relevant procedures throughout the EU. The Act
will, therefore, cover cartels and abuse of dominance, but will not
apply to damages resulting from breaches of Bulgarian specific
competition provisions, such as abuse of a stronger bargaining
position, or from unfair competition practices.
In line with the Private Damages Directive, Bulgarian law
recognizes the binding effect on civil courts of the sanctioning
decisions of the European Commission and of final sanctioning
decisions of the CPC, and introduces a rebuttable presumption that
cartels cause damage, both of which will facilitate damage
claims.
