9.10.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 356/53

1.

On 1 October 2014, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (‘SOCAR’ of Azerbaijan) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation control of the whole of the Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator (‘DESFA’ of Greece) by way of purchase of shares.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—   for SOCAR: wholly-owned by the Republic of Azerbaijan and involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in domestic and international markets, and supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan;

—   for DESFA: established in 2007 with the objective of operating, maintaining, managing, exploiting and developing the Hellenic Gas Transmission System. The activities of the company, which are governed by a special law, are a public utility and are subject to government supervision.

3.

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.

4.

The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.

Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. Observations can be sent to the Commission by fax (+32 22964301), by e-mail to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference number M.7095 — SOCAR/DESFA, to the following address: