The Commission for protection of competition approved the proposed commitments of the State enterprise National railway infrastructure company (DP NKZI)
By Decision No. 1352/21.12.2023 on case No. KZK-109/2021, the Commission for Protection of Competition approved the proposal for commitments of the State enterprise National railway infrastructure company (DP NKZI) in relation to the addressed statement of objections for an infringement of art. 21 (3) of the LPC and of art. 102 (c) TFEU with Ruling № 67/19.01.2023 of the CPC.
The proceedings before the CPC were initiated upon a complaint filed by “Bulgarian railway company” EAD – a carrier active on the railway freight transportation market.
On the basis of the information collected within the proceedings and the carried economic and legal analysis, the Commission's preliminary assessment is that some practices of DP NKZI rise competitive concerns due to their potential ability to lead to better competitive positioning of the carrier from its economic group – BDZ TP, as opposed to that of the other railway carriers, active on the railway freight transportation market.
In this regard, on the basis of Art. 75, para. 1 of the LPC, DP NKZI proposed commitments to achieve the cessation of the above-mentioned conduct.
With the proposed commitments, DP NKZI proposes to take actions that are directly related to the Commission's competitive concerns and contribute to their full and effective resolution. NKZI proposes to henceforth establish and maintain uniform conditions for services related to the access and use of the railway infrastructure on the territory of the country and for the services related to access and transmission of electrical energy through its electricity distribution networks, by: 1) the introduction of two uniform standard contracts for the provision of these services, which it will publish on its website and 2) by the introduction of General Terms and Conditions for the postponement and rescheduling of debts of railway carriers, in accordance with which the company shall carry out the activities related to postponement and rescheduling in a clear and non-discriminatory manner.
The Commission considers that the proposal has uniform and specific conditions applicable to all carriers as well as a transparent mechanism for postponement and rescheduling of debts of railway carriers.
In relation to it, the Commission consulted the market participants, the so-called market test pursuant to Art. 75, para. 3 of the LPC, by publishing a notice of the proposed obligations in the electronic register.
Since the proposed commitments are directly related to the subject of the proceedings and correspond to the alleged violations, also correspond to the objectives of the law and are in the best interest of consumers, the CPC considers that in this way an opportunity is created to improve the competitive environment of the rail freight market.
In view of the above with Decision No. 1352/21.12.2023 the Commission approved the proposed commitments as appropriate for eliminating the possible obstacles to competition after being satisfied with their compliance with the Rules of the CPC for considering commitments proposals under the Law on Protection of Competition (the Rules).
In the course of the proceedings, the Commission cooperated with the European Commission by informing of the decision and agreeing on its conclusions in fulfillment of its obligation to apply Community law in close cooperation with the EC.
The full text of the Decision is available in the public electronic register of the CPC at https://reg.cpc.bg.