August 14 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's competition regulator said that it has allowed fuel retailer Rompetrol Bulgaria to lease five filling stations from local peer Synergon Petroleum.
The regulator's analysis shows that Rompetrol Bulgaria's market share does not exceed 5% on each of the fuel retail, wholesale, import and production segments, the Commission for Protection of Competition said in its decision published last week.
Rompetrol Bulgaria is part of Romania-headquartered KMG International Group. Rompetrol Bulgaria has 54 filling stations in the country. KMG International Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kazakhstan's KazMunayGas.
Synergon Petroleum is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bulgarian diversified group Synergon Holding [BUL:6S7]. Synergon Holding owns directly a 24.9% stake in Synergon Petroleum, and a 75.1% stake indirectly, through its unit Toplivo [BUL:3TV], a heating and construction materials retailer.
Last month, Synergon Petroleum increased its capital to 4 million levs ($2.4 million/2.0 million euro) from 3 million levs.
Synergon Petroleum operates 30 petroleum and natural gas filling stations in Bulgaria.
Synergon Holding was set up in 1996 as a privatisation fund under Bulgaria's voucher privatisation programme. The fund was transformed into a holding structure the following year. It has more than 25 subsidiaries and affiliated companies operating in various sectors of the Bulgarian economy.