Com­mis­sion for the Pro­tec­tion of Com­pe­ti­tion (CPC) author­ized the merg­er through  acqui­si­tion of joint con­trol of a new­ly estab­lished soci­e­ty – Var­na Fer­ry Ltd. from the Bul­gar­i­an Mar­i­time Ship­ping Com­pa­ny Ltd. and the Bul­gar­i­an Riv­er Ship­ping AD. The soci­e­ty will effect fer­ry­boat trans­por­ta­tion by the direct rail fer­ry Var­na-Port Kavkaz (Cau­ca­sus).

According to the information supplied by Bulgarian River Shipping to the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, Varna Ferry will deal with freight and cargo ferry shipping, acquisition and management of vessels, and foreign trade. The company has a starting capital of BGN 100 000.

Through the setting up of the Varna Ferry company, the two shipping operators are in fact taking over the operation of the direct railway-ferry boat line between Bulgaria’s Varna and Russia‘s Black Sea Port Kavkaz.

Varna Ferry is being set up after last week the Bulgarian Competition Protection Commission approved the establishment of the joint venture between Navigation Maritime Bulgare and Bulgarian River Shipping.

The competition watchdog found no horizontal or vertical dependence between the two companies, and declared that their joint venture will not change their market situation which made the concentration of business activity permissible. Accord­ing to the Exec­u­tive Agen­cy “Mar­i­time Admin­is­tra­tion” the new line cre­ates sig­nif­i­cant advan­ta­ges for busi­ness­es, such as short­en­ing the dis­tance between Bul­gar­ia and Rus­sia by 800 km and redu­ces the time for car­go deliv­ery by about 40%

The Black Sea ferry line between Bulgaria’s Varna and Port Kavkaz was opened in March 2009 in order to facilitate the trade and transit between Bulgaria and Russia and the former Soviet Republics in Central Asia.

In 2010, the freight traffic through the Varna-Port Kavkaz ferry registered an increase of over 330% year-on-year.