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Germany: Probe launched into Berlin gas network license

By  |  July 6, 2014

Germany’s Federal Cartel Office announced last week that it has opened an investigation into plans to award Berlin Energie a major gas network operating license following a complaint from a private sector rival.

Private firm GASAG and its subsidiary NBB reportedly filed a complaint with regulators over the license, which would be awarded to Berlin Energie and become valid in 2015.

According to reports, Germany’s utilities are trending towards placing assets in public firms’ hands, a move away from the past two decades in which energy was largely privatized.

The shift has caused controversy as antitrust officials assert that business owners must face competition in being awarded assets.

Full content: Reuters

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