Online Store to Appeal Fine Imposed by Bulgaria's Competition Regulator

In an official statement distributed to media on Friday, online store eMAG informed that it will appeal the recent decision of Bulgaria's Commission for Protection of Competition (KZK) to fine the company over misleading advertisement campaigns.

The statement notes this is the third time KZK sanctions eMAG, with a total of nine fines imposed this time. The company does not accept the decision of the commission and views it as incorrect and unfounded.

It will appeal the decision before the relevant Bulgarian court and will take all necessary measures to present the case to the European Commission.

The company's lawyers think that there are grounds to believe that justice will prevail.

According to eMAG, the company is being sanctioned for offering good and attractive prices and quality services bringing benefits to the users, all of which constitute elements of the company's business that are being actively communicated.

The company assures that it will continue to make investments in order to bring added value to users and the Bulgarian online market.

On Thursday, KZK issued its decision to fine eMAG over misleading advertisement campaigns such as "Black Friday", "Crazy days" and several others which had taken place last year or at the end of 2014.

On the request of another online store, the commission launched probe which established that the discounts offered by eMAG during the promotional periods either did not take place or did not correspond to what had been advertised.

The fine is issued to Romania-based Dante International SA, which is the owner of the online store.

The fine exceeds BGN 4.6 M and the sanction has been calculated as percentage of the revenues made by the company last year.