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The deal of Agropolychim AD for over 20% of the shares of Neochim will go through without the intervention of the competition regulator. The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) has ruled that the transaction does not fall within its scope, since the turnovers of the participants in the concentration are below the statutory thresholds for which the Commission's opinion is requested. However, Neochim and the two other companies - leading shareholders in the company - Euro Fert AD and Eco Tech AD, are not thrilled with the deal. According to the company, the deal is an attempt to circumvent the law and conceal the actual concentration, leading to a change in control on a long-term basis over the company. Agropolychim has established a subsidiary in August 2024 - Rhea Ventures EAD, which buys 100% of the shares in the capital of the Bulgarian company Feboran EOOD. Feboran is in the group of top 3 shareholders in Neochim. Feboran is a company that the Czech Agrofert group of former Prime Minister Andrej Babis acquired in 2023 from the Borealis group, which exited Neochim and other non-strategic activities to focus on its core business. Feboran's main activity is investment and is related to its share in Neochim. Feboran owns 20.3% of Neochim's shares. According to Neochim, the deal conceals a hidden concentration to the detriment of the law. The concentration covers not only the shares owned by Feboran EOOD, but also another 3.71%, which Rhea Ventures acquired independently in the period October 17-22, 2024, i.e. Agropolichim's control is indirectly over 24.02% of Neochim's capital. This practically equalizes the forces of Agropolychim with the other main shareholders - Euro Fert AD (24.03%) and Eco Tech AD (24.28%). For the second time, the minority shareholders reject a proposal by the management of Neochim to conclude a distribution agreement with Euro Fert, the main shareholder in the company, due to the excessively large discounts provided. The agreement is for 5 years with an option to be extended for another 2. The company is currently implementing two agreements for the distribution of products - with Euro Fert and Borealis L.A.T. The deal was discussed by the shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting of Neochim, which was held on December 5, 2024. For the first time, the deal was discussed and rejected by the shareholders at the regular general meeting, which was held at the end of June 2024, after it did not collect the required majority of three quarters of the shares. Representatives of Rhea Ventures and Agropolychim attended the extraordinary general meeting in early December, according to the minutes of the meeting, and they categorically opposed the deal in its current terms. This means that it cannot pass the general meeting unless it is adjusted with discounts on the price of fertilizers for distribution that are acceptable to shareholders and the conclusion of other contracts with more distributors. Neochim reported weaker sales and a loss for the third quarter of 2024, according to the company's individual financial report. The company generated sales of under BGN 53.4 million in the third quarter of 2024 compared to over BGN 74.6 million in the second quarter, which represents a nearly 28.5% year-on-year decline. The decline is not surprising, because the season is not the most active for the company, which was in maintenance from late June to early August. For the entire nine months of 2024, the company's sales amounted to nearly 183.8 million leva compared to over 222.3 million leva for the nine months of 2023, which is 17.3% less on an annual basis. Expenses for the nine months were 185.3 million leva compared to 245.4 million leva for the nine months of 2023, or decreased by 24.5% on an annual basis. The company realized a loss of almost 1.3 million leva as of the end of September 2024, compared to a profit of nearly 2.8 million leva as of the end of June 2024 and a loss of over 23 million leva as of the end of September 2023. On an annual basis, the loss decreased by over 94%. In the last year, Neochim's shares have increased in price by over 4%, and the market capitalization has reached just over 69 million leva.