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Council of the Office issued a decision on agreements related to the sale of Škoda passenger cars

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On 25 August 2017 the Council of the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic (hereafter "the Council of the Office") issued a decision amending the first instance decision of the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic, the Division of Cartels, dated 11 September 2015.
 
The Council of the Office reduced the amount of fines imposed by the first-instance body on individual undertakings for participating in agreements relating to public procurement process or public tender, by which they aimed to restrict the competition on the market of the sale of new Škoda passenger cars in the territory of the Slovak Republic. This anti-competitive conduct was realised by the means of direct or indirect determining prices of goods, market allocation and collusive behaviour, which resulted into coordinated behaviour of undertakings in the public procurement process and public tender.
 
The Council of the Office imposed on the undertakings the following sanctions:
  • to the undertaking DANUBIASERVICE, a.s., a fine in the amount of EUR 43 893,
  • to the undertaking BOAT, a.s., a fine in the amount of EUR 23 009 and a ban from participating in public procurement for a period of one year from the date of the final decision,
  • to the undertaking Autoprofit, s.r.o., a fine in the amount of EUR 25 228,
  • to the undertaking Porsche Inter Auto Slovakia, spol. a fine in the amount of EUR 60 599,
  • to the undertaking ŠKODA AUTO Slovensko, s.r.o., a fine in the amount of EUR 51 719,
  • to the undertaking Todos Bratislava, s.r.o., a fine in the amount of EUR 6 117,
  • to the undertaking IMPA Bratislava, a. s., a fine in the amount of EUR 108 660 and a ban from participating in public procurement for a period of three years from the final decision. 
 
The amount of fines imposed on three of the fined participants to the proceedings was reduced on the basis of leniency program. At the same time the amount of fines was reduced to all participants to the proceedings except for IMPA Bratislava, a.s., on the basis of successful settlement, within which the undertakings admitted their participation in the infringement as found by administrative authorities in the course of the administrative proceedings.
 
In the case of two of the sixteen agreements reviewed by the first-instance body, the proceedings were stopped pursuant the Article 32 Paragraph 2 Letter c) of the Act on the Protection of Competition, because there was no reason for the proceedings.
 
The rest of the first-instance decision was upheld by the Council of the Office.
 
The decision of the Council of the Office came into force on 12 September 2017.