URZĄD OCHRONY KONKURENCJI I KONSUMENTÓW
Departament Współpracy z Zagranicą i Komunikacji Społecznej
MORE PRICE FIXING
In 2010, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection broke nearly 30 prohibited
price fixing agreements concluded amongst entrepreneurs. Most recent cases concern
price fixing of horticultural products, fireplaces, clothing, port services and professional
practices.
[Warsaw, 9 February 2011] Under law, it is illegal to enter into agreements aimed at or resulting
in elimination, violation or restriction of competition, for example by joint price fixing of goods and
services or dividing the market. Such agreements can be concluded not only amongst competitors,
but also amongst undertakings operating at different levels of the supply chain. Price fixing practices
are considered to be particularly harmful violations of competition. Participation in such an
agreement can result in imposing of financial sanctions amounting to as much as 10 percent of the
undertaking’s revenue earned in the financial year preceding the year in which a decision in this
respect was issued. In 2010, the President of the Office issued 28 decisions regarding agreements
restricting competition.
One of the recent decisions involved a prohibited agreement in the wholesale market for
horticultural products. The proceedings were instituted in December 2009 following the receipt of
information provided at the same time (in a single envelope) by two participants of the collusion who
requested immunity from fines. The investigation involved the conducting of inspections with search
at headquarters of the undertakings. According to the findings of the Office of Competition and
Consumer Protection, the collusion lasted from January 2004 to June 2008, and as many as six
entities participated in it. It involved the fixing of minimum resale prices of products manufactured by
Ogrody Polskie, including fertilisers, seeds and grass mixes. A division of the market had also taken
place – it had been arranged, in what regions individual entrepreneurs would sell products on an
exclusive basis.
For the breach of competition the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection
fined the participants of the collusion PLN 77 081.53 The penalised companies include: Ogrody
Polskie, Green-Land Service, Pest-Ario, Przedsiębiorstwo Handlowe “Biedronka” of Gdańsk, Krokus
2, Res-Gal and Biabor. It is worthwhile noting that in the case of two entrepreneurs – i.e. Ogrody
Polskie and Res-Gal there were mitigating factors, namely the applications submitted by
entrepreneurs, which helped to obtain information about the existence of the collusion. As the
applications were submitted at the same time, due to formal reasons the leniency program was not
applied, as it was impossible to determine the order of submission of the applications, which is the
decisive factor, when it comes to waving or mitigating of financial sanction.
URZĄD OCHRONY KONKURENCJI I KONSUMENTÓW
Departament Współpracy z Zagranicą i Komunikacji Społecznej
There was also a price fixing agreement between Jotul Polska and its sales representatives. The
company is a large distributor of cast iron ovens and fireplaces in the Polish market. As it was
revealed by the investigation, in agreements with its distributors the undertaking obliged them to sell
products at prices presented in the proposed price list, and forbade them to make any independent
decisions as to discounts or promotions. At various times, between 2000 and 2009 the collusion
involved as many as 73 trading partners of the distributor. The initiator of the collusion – Jotul Poska
was fined PLN 31 164. Fines amounting to a total of PLN 185 604 were imposed on 26 other
entrepreneurs. As far as the other participants of the collusion are concerned, due to their low
revenues, President of the Office decided not to impose any financial penalties.
Another uncovered prohibited price fixing agreement was concluded between VF Poska Distribution
and its trading partners. The company’s business profile includes manufacturing of clothing as well as
distribution of the following popular brands:
The North Face and JanSport. The investigation
revealed that the undertaking had concluded agreements with some of its trading partners, whereby
it had obliged them to adhere to recommended retail prices. The President of the Office imposed
on the participants of the collusion a total fine of PLN 162 187. Apart from the initiator of the
collusion, the following entities were also fined: Intersport Polska, Misiek Bury, Cerro Torre Sport,
Trekker Sport, Alp of Mikołów, Sports Store Dyskobol of Szczecin and Espina-Sport. The
entrepreneurs have now abandoned the prohibited practice.
Prohibited agreements do not have to involve generally available goods – they may also involve
services offered to a narrow group of customers. This was exactly the case with the undertakings
offering services at the Marine Port in Szczecin. Three companies fixed prices for docking of ships at
the wharfs operated by them. President of the Office ordered the undertakings to cease the
prohibited practice and fined the participants of the collusion: DB Port Szczecin was fined PLN
41 954, Elewator Ewa was fined PLN 23 016, while Fast Terminals was fined PLN 7 063.
The above specified decisions are not final and binding. The affected undertakings are entitled to
lodge an appeal with the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection.
Currently, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection is conducting several antitrust
investigations concerning prohibited agreements. One of them involves the Polish Federation of Real
Estate Professions Associations, Polish Real Estate Federation and Polish Federation of Real Estate
Managers. Under law, professional associations have the status of entrepreneurs, and hence they are
not allowed to restrict competition. According to the information available to the Office of
Competition and Consumer Protection the Federations fixed the fee for candidates to the
profession, which has no legal basis, and is determined only by way of agreement between them.
Any undertaking, who would like to avoid severe financial sanctions, may benefit from the leniency
program. An entity, which as the first participant of collusion provides vital information in this
URZĄD OCHRONY KONKURENCJI I KONSUMENTÓW
Departament Współpracy z Zagranicą i Komunikacji Społecznej
respect, is not the initiator thereof and has not induced others to engage into prohibited practices,
may apply even for a full immunity from the fine. Lawyers of the Office of Competition and
Consumer Protection are available to answer any questions concerning the program at:
(22) 55 60 555.
Additional information for the media:
Małgorzata Cieloch, Spokesperson for the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Tel. 22 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 430
Fax 22 826 11 86
E-mail [email protected]