RO online retailer blames competition body of helping market leader strengthen position

Romanian entrepreneur Tiberiu Pop, founder and CEO of local online retailer CEL.ro argues in a clip posted online that the Competition Council was biased when levying a disproportionate fine to his company upon taking over some small-sized online retailers while closing the eyes to market leader eMAG’s strategy of building a dominant position.

While CEL.ro gained nearly no market share by taking small rivals like azerty.ro, eMAG improved its already dominant position by taking over pcgarage.ro, Pop argues providing relevant data.

In the video recording, the CEL.ro CEO also accused the Competition Council’s inspectors of sending forged documents to court, which later disappeared from the file, to justify the size of the fine levied upon his company: RON 1.6 million (EUR 0.34 mln), more than the aggregate net profits the retailer made since it started operations.

The Competition Council’s head Bogdan Chiritoiu claims, in response, that his employees only followed the law, which is an European law, and were in no way biased. He added that the Competition Council is also investigating eMAG, which also risks a fine.

(Photo: Pixabay)