Competition Council fines 11 media agencies in Romania for anticompetitive deal

Romania’s Competition Council decided to fine 11 local media buying agencies with a total of EUR 3.2 million for anticompetitive practices. The competition authority has established that the 11 companies made a deal aimed at eliminating other competing media agencies from the media communication services trading market. The Council took note of the companies' attempt to establish and promote a set of principles for transparency and professionalism on the market, but this did not compensate for the fact that their deal was anticompetitive, and did not save them from being fined. The biggest fines were given to McCann-Erickson (EUR 718,000), Initiative Media (EUR 557,000), Zenith Media Communications (EUR 479,000) and Starcom Mediavest Group (EUR 412,000), which are also among the largest such firms on the Romanian market. Smaller fines were dictated against Mediacom Romania, Mediaedgecia Romania, Mindshare Media, Opti Media, United Media Services, Brand Programming Network, and Groupm Media Operations. editor@romania-insider.com