Cartel and competition law. Competition law attorney in Bulgaria.

Cartel law.

The team of Kostov & Partners has many years of legal experience in resolving disputes concerning cartel agreements. In Art. 15(1) of the CCL contains a general prohibition of any agreements between undertakings, decisions of associations of undertakings, and concerted practices of two or more undertakings which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition on the relevant market. It invariably sets out some of the most typical manifestations of the prohibited conduct:

- direct or indirect fixing of prices or other commercial terms;

- allocation of markets or sources of supply;

- restricting or controlling production, trade, technical development or investment;

- applying different conditions to the same type of contract in relation to certain partners, thereby placing them in an unequal position as competitors;

- making the conclusion of contracts conditional upon the other party assuming additional obligations or entering into additional contracts which are not related, by their nature or according to normal commercial practice, to the subject-matter of the main contract or to its performance. The general prohibition in Article 15 of the CPA is completely identical to the prohibition in Article 81 of the ECT and similarly declares void all agreements and decisions falling within its scope (Article 15(2) of the CPA). Which conduct is prohibited? There are three legal forms of prohibited conduct by undertakings: an agreement between undertakings, a decision by an association of undertakings and a concerted practice by undertakings.

Procurement - appeal to the CPC.

The Kostov & Partners team provides procedural defence before the CPC in connection with public procurement appeals. With the amendments to the Public Procurement Act in force since 01.07.2006, the competent authority before which public procurement procedures are appealed is the Commission for Protection of Competition. The CPC is an independent specialised state body entrusted with the enforcement of competition law. The Commission's seat is in the town of The seat of the Commission is in Sofia.

Pursuant to Article 120, para. 1 of the Public Procurement Act, any decision, act or omission of the contracting authority in a public procurement procedure until the conclusion of the public procurement contract or the framework agreement is subject to an appeal on its legality before the CPC, i.e. only acts of the contracting authority issued in the course of the procedure - from the moment of the decision to open the procedure until the conclusion of the public procurement contract or the framework agreement - may be appealed before the Commission, and only in respect of their legality.

Acts issued on behalf of the contracting authority but by a person authorised by the contracting authority to organise and conduct the procurement procedure are also subject to review before the CPC. A challenge before the CPC may not be brought against a procurement contract or framework agreement already concluded, which are private-law acts and can only be ruled on their validity by a civil court. On the other hand, it is possible to challenge clauses in the draft contract in so far as it forms part of the tender documentation approved by the decision opening the procedure. An appeal does not suspend the procurement procedure unless the CPC imposes an interim measure of suspension.

If you are in need of a cartel lawyer in Plovdiv, please contact the Kostov & Partners team here and now:

Email - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and phone +359888915215