The Council of AMO decided on a cartel in public procurement related to gastrotechnology
On 17 June 2024 the Council of the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic (the Council of AMO) issued a decision related to appeals lodged by parties to a proceeding against the first-instance decision of the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic (AMO) of 10 November 20231.
In the first-instance decision, AMO had imposed fines in the total amount of EUR 564 411 and a ban on participation in public procurement for 3 years for concluding a cartel agreement, which is prohibited by the Act on the Protection of Competition.
After the examination of appeals and related file material, the Council of AMO annulled the decision of 10 November 2023 and has returned the case to AMO´s first-instance body for a new proceeding.
According to the Council of AMO, the reason for annulling the decision is the lack of legal and logical considerations of AMO in relation to some evidence. That impacted the legal assessment and the conclusion about the participants in the proceeding. Therefore, according to the Council of AMO, the first-instance decision is unreviewable. After the case is returned, AMO will be obliged to supplement the justification of its conclusions.
The decision of the Council of AMO came into force on 26 June 2024.
1 AMO had informed about the first-instance decision by a press release (available in Slovak language)