For the second time ever, a merger notified to the European Commission has been referred to the Polish Competition Authority (UOKIK) at the parties' request.
The case concerns the acquisition of sole control over Petrolot by Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen (PKN Orlen).
PKN Orlen is one of Central Europe's largest crude oil refiners, producing petroleum products such as unleaded petrol, diesel, heating oil and aviation fuel.
Petrolot is an aviation fuel supplier to Polish airports and is currently jointly controlled by PKN Orlen and Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT.
The transaction was notified to the EC as it has a 'Community dimension' i.e the parties' combined aggregate worldwide and EU turnovers exceed the relevant thresholds under EC Merger Regulation.
As the competition implications of this transaction will not extend beyond Poland, the case was referred to UOKIK which according to the European Commission has significant experience in assessing the aviation fuel industry and has already issued many decisions in this sector.
UOKIK will start its merger control proceedings once it receives a merger notification from PKN Orlen.
This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq
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The original publication date for this article was 12/09/2012.