Bulgarian Competition Regulator Fines Austrian Companies Duropack, Schneider & Schneider

In late 2005 Austrian companies Constantia Packaging via its subsidiary Duropack AG, and Schneider & Schneider Rechtsanwalte OEG, acquired a 47.61% stake in Trakia Papir each at an undisclosed price. A year later Constantia Packaging raised its stake in the Bulgarian company to 90.25% by buying 42.41% from Schneider & Schneider Rechtsanwalte OEG for 36.4 million levs. In a buyout bid last year it acquired a further 135,160 shares of the 315,423 remaining shares in Duropack-Trakia Papir. In June 2007, the company's shareholders decided to delist it from the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.

The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) imposed two fines totaling 120,000 levs on Duropack AG and a 40,000 levs fine on Schneider & Schneider for not filing information about the deals.

The commission said in a statement the deals do not violate the competition protection law.

(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)