Julia Nenkova – Chairperson of the CPC
Personal information:
Name: JULIA RATCHEVA NENKOVA
Date of birth: 7 June 1957
Place of birth: Sofia
Education:
- “St. Kliment Ohridski” University, Faculty of Law, Master of Law
- “Graduate of Tulane University, Louisiana, USA
Professional experience:
- Deputy Mayor of Sofia Municipality, in charge of “Legality, coordination and control” matters
- Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Privatization and Post-privatization Control Agency
- Member of the Executive Board of “Trust and Protection” Foundation
- Director of the Legal Directorate at the Sofia Municipality
- Chief legal advisor at the Legal Directorate by the Sofia Municipality and Head of the Legal Department of the Directorate
- Legal advisor and senior legal advisor at the Legal Department by the Sofia Public Council
- Legal advisor at the Architecture and City planning Department by the Sofia Public Council
Dimitar Kyumyurdzhiev – Deputy Chairman of the CPC
Personal information:
Name: DIMITAR IVANOV KYUMYURDZHIEV
Date of birth: 16 August 1958
Place of birth: Bourgas
Education:
- “St. Kliment Ohridski” Sofia University, Faculty of Law, Master of Law
Professional experience:
- Deputy Minister of Defence
- Part-time lecturer at the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”
- Attorney at law – Sofia Bar Association
- Head of the Political Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Representative of Bulgaria at the Group of States against corruption (GRECO) by the Council of Europe. International expert – evaluator at GRECO
- Member of the Commission on Protection of Competition
- Examining Magistrate at the Sofia Investigative Service and Chief expert at the Prosecutor’s Office of Republic of Bulgaria
- Judge trainee at the Sofia District Court
Anna Yaneva – Member of the CPC
Personal information:
Name: ANNA GEORGIEVA YANEVA
Date of birth: 18 January 1955
Place of birth: Sofia
Education:
- Master’s degree in Economics from the University of National and World Economy (successor of Karl Marx Higher Institute of Economics)
Professional experience:
- Deputy Minister in charge of “Economy” sector at the Ministry of Economics and Energy
- Member of Parliament in the 41st National Assembly and member of the Parliamentary Commission on “Economy, Energy and Tourism”
- Deputy Minister in charge of “Economy” sector at the Ministry of Economics and Energy
- Chief secretary of the Committee for Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy within the Council of Ministers
Georgitsa Stoyanova – Member of the CPC
Personal information:
Name: GEORGITSA PETROVA STOYANOVA
Date of birth: 25 December 1974
Place of birth: Petrich
Education:
- Southwest University “Neofit Rilski”, Master of Law
Professional experience:
- Director of “Legal and normative Activity” Directorate at the Ministry of Defence
- Legal advisor in “Legal and normative Activity” Directorate at the Ministry of Defence
- Legal advisor and acting Director of “Administrative and Legal Services, Finance and Property Management” Directorate at the Municipality of Blagoevgrad
- Judicial candidate at the District Court – Blagoevgrad
Krassimir Vitanov – Member of the CPC
Personal information:
Name: KRASSIMIR GEORGIEV VITANOV
Date of birth: 1 October 1977
Place of birth: Dupnitsa
Education:
- Master in Law at the Southwest University “Neofit Rilski”
- Manager in administration of Infrastructural Projects – Specialization at the International Training Centre within the United Nations System, Turin, Italy
Professional experience:
- Manager of “Ecoinzhenering – RM” EOOD within the structure of the Ministry of Economy
- Head of the “Legal and Public Procurement” Department of the National Oncology Hospital
- Member and afterwards Chairman of the Supervisory Board of “BULGARTRANSGAZ” EAD
- Head of Department “Judicial Representation and Control of Public Procurement Procedures” at RIA
- Chief legal advisor at Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA)
- Junior expert in “Public Procurement and Concessions” Directorate in The Commission on Protection of Competition
Krassimir Zafirov – Member of the CPC
Personal information:
Name: KRASSIMIR YORDANOV ZAFIROV
Date of birth: 18 July 1969
Place of birth: Yambol
Education:
- “St. Kliment Ohridski” University, Faculty of Law, Master of Law
Professional experience:
- Attorney at law – Sofia Bar Association
- Representative of ENI Divisione Refining & Marketing S.p.A. (Agip Petroli S.P.A)
- Associate at the legal department of “Stadex” OOD
- Junior judge at the Sofia City Court
Prof. Plamen Kirov – Member of the CPC
Personal information:
Name: PLAMEN VESSELINOV KIROV
Date of birth: 5 December 1960
Place of birth: Pleven
Education:
Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Faculty of Law, Master of Law
Associate Professor and Full Professor on Constitutional Law at the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”
PhD study on constitutional law at the “St. Kliment Ohridski” University
Many publications in the field of political representation and political system of the Republic of Bulgaria
Specializations in Greece, Malta, USA and the Netherlands
Professional experience:
Full mandate Constitutional Judge from 2006 till 2015
Judicial secretary and Chairman of the Legal Counsel of the President of Republic of Bulgaria
Expert in procedures for amendment and addition to the Constitution of Republic of Bulgaria
Consultant of permanent commissions at the National Assembly, the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Justice
Commission On Protection of Competition Bulgaria organises the European Competition Day on 31 May in Sofia on the occasion of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. The meeting will discuss key legislative developments in the European competition law such as the Damages Directive and the future ECN+ Directive which will have the determining influence on the enforcement of competition rules in the forthcoming years. Attention will be also paid to cases that arise before the competition authorities in the energy sector. More specifically, the European Competition Day will be organised in three sessions dedicated to different topics:
ECN+ Directive: what will the plus bring?
This session will discuss the future Directive of the EU Parliament and of the Council to empower the competition authorities of the Member States to be more effective enforcers and to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market, hereinafter referred to as ECN+.
The Directive aims to provide the national competition authorities of the Member States with the necessary powers to detect competition law infringements, to sanction companies in breach of legislation, to act independently when applying European competition rules and to have the necessary tools to carry out their tasks. The Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU coincided with the discussion on the proposal for the Directive in the EU Council G12 Working Group on Competition which allowed the CPC to actively participate in this process.
Competition in energy markets: the way to ensure affordable and secure supplies for all consumers
This session will focus on a sector that affects everyone – energy. Over the last decades, this sector has been characterised by a gradual transition from monopoly to the gradual opening up of these markets to competition. At the same time, due to the existence of an infrastructure that cannot be duplicated, there is also a risk of abuse of a dominant position. This session will discuss the role of competition authorities in these markets, the most frequent types of competition infringement in the sector and how competition can ensure better functioning of these markets in such a way as to bring benefits to all consumers. The Commission on Protection of Competition closely monitors the competitive environment of the electricity market. The public significance of this sector has necessitated the carrying out of a new wide-ranging survey on the situation on the electricity market which presented a detailed overview of the current market processes and the need for additional measures contributing to the proper and effective functioning of the competitive environment. In this regard, pursuant to Decision No 59/22.01.2018 the Commission initiated proceedings for conducting a sector analysis of the electricity market.
Fixing the damages – expected effects of the application of the Damages Directive
This session will discuss the effects of the application of the recently transposed in the Member States Directive 2014/104 EU on actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union. The Directive removes the practical obstacles to compensation for all victims of infringements of EU Competition law. The Directive is expected to boost private enforcement in the area of competition. This, in turn, would have a full impact on the application of the competition rules.
The Sofia Competition Forum is a joint initiative of the Bulgarian Commission on Protection of Competition and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. On 11 July 2012 the Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Mr. Petko Draganov, and the Chairman of the Bulgarian competition authority, Mr. Petko Nikolov, signed a Memorandum of Understanding by which both institutions joined forces to establish and affirm the Sofia Competition Forum as an informal platform for technical assistance, exchange of experience and consultations in the field of competition policy and enforcement.
The Forum strives to foster cooperation and the development of regional ties in the Balkan region, thus ensuring a uniform application of competition rules. The SCF aims to assist countries in the region in adopting and enforcing competition law and to maximize the benefits for these countries of well-functioning markets. Besides the competition authorities of the region as the main target group in this project, the cooperation with the judiciary, the academia and the business community are a key priority of the SCF. Building on existing international fora, such as UNCTAD, OECD and the ICN, the Forum aims to provide the competition authorities of the region with a platform to exchange information and expertise in the field of competition policy. In view of the fact that most countries in the region face similar challenges in their transition to market economy, the problems in competition law enforcement are also of the same kind. The creation and improvement of competition legislation, capacity building, application of the best practices in law enforcement, and finding common solutions to the specific competition concerns in the region are key objectives of the SCF. Dialogue is mainly focused on issues related to:
• Improving the competition legislation, which fits the specific legal and economic structure and can best address the development needs of the young competition authorities in the region;
• Institution building of the competition authorities;
• Capacity building for efficient enforcement of competition law and policy;
• Negotiation process for EU membership.
The Sofia Competition Forum is designed to provide capacity building assistance and policy advice through seminars and workshops on competition law and policy. By maintaining a web-based platform for publication of information, materials and presentations, as well as for conducting webinars, the SCF expects to further facilitate the cooperation between competition authorities in the region and foster the development of regional relations among them.
The launch conference of the Sofia Competition Forum took place on 12 November 2012 in Sofia and welcomed participants from the beneficiary competition agencies, as well as representatives of EU competition authorities, DG Competition, UNCTAD, OECD and many others. At the end of the conference, the competition authorities from the Balkan region signed the Sofia Statement expressing their willingness and resolve to continue their cooperation in the framework of this initiative.