Press Releases 2005

Orange Slovensko Gets SKK 1 Mln. for Violating Competition Law..

Orange Slovensko Gets SKK 1 Mln. for Violating Competition Law..
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CORRECTED: Orange Slovensko Gets SKK 1 Mln. Fine for Violating ..

Orange Slovensko Gets SKK 1 Mln. Fine for Violating Competition Law

BRATISLAVA, January 5, (SITA) -- One of the two mobile operators in Slovakia, Orange Slovensko, a.s. Bratislava and the firm Sapeko, s.r.o. Nitra, according to the Antitrust Office (PMU), breached the competition law by making a vertical agreement that restricts competition. The PMU issued the verdict on December 23, 2004 and fined Orange Slovensko SKK 1 million and gave Sapeko an SKK 6,000 fine. PMU spokesman Miroslav Jurkovic told SITA that in this administrative proceeding, the office focused on an analysis of the relevant market of Prima cards for users of Orange’s prepaid service.
“Prices in the contract between Orange Slovakia and the distributor of Prima’s prepaid cards, the Sapeko firm, were set directly,” said Mr. Jurkovic. In the contract Orange included the price, for which Sapeko was supposed to sell the cards to the final customer, thus preventing the distributor from selling the cards for a lower price at the expense of its own margin. “As a result of this agreement, competition on the relevant retail market of prepaid Prima cards has been excluded,” stated Mr. Jurkovic.