The Competition Council sanctioned seven companies active on the Romanian food market with fines totalling 18,8 million Euro

The Competition Council sanctioned seven companies active on the Romanian food market (3 retailers and 4 suppliers) with fines totalling 87,713,336 lei (approx. 18.8 million Euro). The sanctions were applied within the price-fixing investigation between , Cora and retailers and their suppliers during the period 2010-2016. The retailers and their suppliers were sanctioned for infringing both the national and European competition rules during the retailer's promotions.

The Competition Council found that in some cases the shelf sale prices were not set according to market rules, but the supplier and the retailer were fixing a fixed or minimum price for reselling the products to the end consumers. This practice leads to higher prices for ens consumers, and the retailer cannot drop the price below the limit set by supplier.

The companies sanctioned were:

1. Auchan SA 36.563.004 lei (7,84 milion Euro)

2. Carrefour România SA 26.995.645 lei (5,79 milion Euro)

3. Romania Hypermarche (Cora) SA 12.410.834 lei (2,66 milion Euro)

4. Quadrant-Amroq Beverages SRL 5.984.053 lei (1,28 milion Euro)

5. Star Foods EM SRL 3.930.920 lei (843.599 Euro)

6. Strauss România SRL 1.785.767 lei (383.236 Euro)

7. Nelson Prod SRL 43.113 lei (9.252 Euro)

Carrefour Romania SA admitted its anticompetitive deed within the settlement procedure and consequently benefited from fine reduction.

The fines imposed by the Competition Council are fully paid to the state budget.

The sanctioned companies may appeal the decision of the competition authority to the Court of Appeal, within 30 days from the date of its publication.

This is the second investigation conducted by the competition authority on the food market that was finalized with sanctions. We recall that, in 2015, the competition authority sanctioned retailers Metro, Real, Selgros, Mega Image and their suppliers with fines totalling around 35 million Euro for fixing the prices in 2005-2009. The fines were collected by the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF). Some sanctioned companies challenged the decision of the competition authority and the trials are ongoing.

The Competition Council encourages the companies involved in anti-competitive agreements to contact the competition authority in order to admit their anticompetitive deed within the settlement procedure as the companies could benefit from substantial fine reduction or full immunity.

January 2019

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