The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) initiated a competition supervision proceeding against four undertakings (MAGYAR PLASTIROUTE Forgalomtechnikai Kft., Solinwest 2000 Ipari, Kereskedelmi és Szolgáltató Kft., Szabolcs-Mag 98 Kereskedelmi és Szolgáltató Kft., “TRANSIT-SPEED” Fuvarozó és Kereskedelmi Kft.) and Bacsó István, an individual entrepreneur. At the same time the GVH held dawn raids at the premises of several undertakings.
The GVH noticed that starting in 2012, the above mentioned undertakings have been negotiating their entering prices and dividing the tenders between each other in the public procurement procedures for supplying road salts and other de-icers.
The undertakings under investigations have presumably violated the provisions of the Hungarian Competition Act and the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU with regard to the prohibition of restrictive agreements.
According to the Hungarian Competition Act, the GVH may hold unannounced inspections. The provisions of the Act require the GVH to obtain prior judicial consent before holding the inspections.
The initiation of the competition supervision proceeding does not mean that the undertakings in question have actually committed the infringement. The proceeding seeks to clarify the facts and to prove that the presumed infringement has been committed. According to the Act these proceedings must be closed within 6 months, however, this time limit can be extended two times by a further 6 months, depending on the complexity of the case.
Case number: Vj/76/2014.
Budapest, 7 November 2014
Hungarian Competition Authority
Further information:
Andrea BASA
Spokeswoman
Mail: 1054 Budapest, V. ker. Alkotmány u. 5.
Postaddress: 1245 Budapest, 5. POB 1036
Tel: (+36-1) 472-8902
Email: basa.andrea@gvh.hu, press@gvh.hu
http://www.gvh.hu