Romania’s Competition Council fines insurance brokers for price fixing

Romania’s market authority, the Competition Council, recently fined several insurance brokers for agreeing to set prices on the aviation insurance market.

Following an investigation, the competition authority found that insurance brokers Aon Romania, Assigurazioni Generali S.p.A., Generali Romania, and Omniasig Vienna Insurance Group entered into an agreement aimed at major clients in the aviation insurance market. The companies were fined RON 15.1 million (EUR 3 mln) in total, according to Biziday.ro.

According to the agreement, the largest clients in the aviation insurance market, namely Romatsa, the state-owned “Bucharest Airports” company, and Romaero, were divided up between the insurance brokers. The prices given to the clients, therefore, were previously agreed upon by the cartelized brokers, and not decided through open competition.

The companies admitted to violating the Competition Law and, as a result, benefited from a reduction of the fine. The largest of the fines, RON 8.1 mln (EUR 1.6 mln) went to Generali S.p.A, a branch of the London-based Generali group. The same group is also present in Romania, through Generali Romania.

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