Romania's Competition Council issues fines of over EUR 0.5 bln in 20 years

Romania’s Competition Council has imposed fines of EUR 574.7 million in its 20 years of activity. The biggest fines were applied in 2011, amounting to over EUR 294 million, said yesterday the Competition Council president Bogdan Chiritoiu. In 2011, the Competition Council fined several fuel distributors for an agreement to withdraw a type of fuel from the market at the same time. Telecom operators Orange and Vodafone were also fined in 2011 for abuse of dominant position. More than 90% of the sanctions were applied for anti-competitive practices, namely agreements among companies and abuse of dominant position. The rest of the fines were given for failing to notify transactions. The Competition Council’s actions have generated savings of over EUR 1 billion for consumers, according to estimates of the Academy of Economic Studies. The Competition Council has started 345 investigations since 1997, 239 of which targeted anti-competition practices. The institution has had a budget of about EUR 158.7 million in its 20 years of operation. Romania’s Competition Council investigates family doctors on price fixing editor@romania-insider.com