”Although the court reduced the fine from RON366.5 million to RON297.8 million, it is still the highest sanction applied so far by the Competition Council,” the institution said.
Competition Council had previously won the suits with Mol Romania, Rompetrol Downstream SRL, Eni Romania and OMV Petrom Marketing.
At the end of 2011, the antitrust authority fined six oil companies a total of RON880 million (EUR205 million) for breaching antitrust law by forming a cartel, agreeing to withdraw a type of fuel from the market and replacing it with a more expensive one, thus hurting end-consumers.
The Competition Council fined ENI, MOL, OMV-Petrom, Lukoil, OMV Petrom Marketing, and Rompetrol, all of which challenged the decisions in court.