July 7 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's anti-trust regulator on Tuesday fined local confectionery maker Zaharen Kombinat Plovdiv 207,000 levs ($148,000/106,000 euro) for unloyal attracting of clients.
The fine was imposed after Zaharen Kombinat Plovdiv sent letters to its distributors and key clients, asking them not to sell a brand of biscuits produced by another confectionery maker - Pobeda. Zaharen Kombinat Plovdiv wrote in the letters that legal action has been taken against Pobeda and therefore distributors and key clients should stop selling and distributing that kind of biscuits to avoid becoming a "co-perpetrator in a breach", the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) said in a statement.
CPC considers that the letter is distorting facts as no legal act has been in force at the time of sending to prove that Pobeda was a perpatrator, CPC said. It added that Zaharen Kombinat Plovdiv has damaged the good repution of its competitor, espacially in the current tough business environment, and has caused property and non-property damages.
The fine equals 0.5% of Zaharen Kombinat Plovdi's total turnover.