The Office imposed fine for the third cartel agreement in rail freight transport
The Office did not impose a fine on the competitor Rail Cargo Austria AG as it had provided the Office with information on the existence of the cartel within the so-called leniency programme. Competitors INTERFRACHT s.r.o. and ARGO LOGISTICS, s.r.o. filed an appeal against the decisions, the rest of the parties to the proceedings did not exercise this right.
The above-mentioned competitors entered into a prohibited agreement effective from 2004 till 2013 in connection to projects called Carpathia, Sylvania and new Carpatia. On the basis of secret illegal cooperation, they allocated their customers and goods transport contracts, coordinated prices for these services and exchanged sensitive information. The cartel agreement distorted competition in the market of rail freight transport and forwarding and was able to affect trade between the EU Member States as well. Rail freight transport companies infringed not only the Czech Competition Act but also Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Fines imposed:
Rail Cargo Austria AG fine not imposed (leniency+settlement)
AWT Čechofracht a.s. CZK 1,826,000 (leniency II+settlement)
SPEDICA, s.r.o. CZK 4,243,000 (settlement)
INTERFRACHT s.r.o. CZK 2,357,000
ARGO LOGISTICS, s.r.o. CZK 10,000,000
Press Unit of the Office
20/055 – S0632/2016
2026-06-30 / Annual Report 2025: CZK 500 Million in Antitrust Fines and Complex Public Procurement Cases The Czech Office for the Protection of Competition has published its annual report, summarising the results of its activities in 2025. In addition to protecting competition, the Office is responsible...
2026-05-06 / HP Tronic Faces Nearly CZK 40 Million Fine for Dictating Prices to Retailers The Office for the Protection of Competition has imposed a fine of CZK 38,971,000 on HP TRONIC Zlín, spol. s r.o. (hereinafter “HP TRONIC”), for entering into prohibited agreements restricting competition...
2026-04-29 / Proceedings against energy companies have been terminated The Office for the Protection of Competition has terminated the administrative proceedings conducted against ČEZ, a.s., EP Energy, a.s., a Veolia Energie ČR, a.s
2026-03-05 / Seznam.cz will amend pricing policy for real estate agents on Sreality.cz platform The Office for the Protection of Competition has terminated administrative proceedings concerning possible abuse of a dominant position conducted against Seznam.cz, a.s. (hereinafter "Seznam.cz") after...
2025-11-20 / Office for the Protection of Competition has agreed on commitments with Alma Career, job portal system will be more accessible to competitors The Office for the Protection of Competition has closed administrative proceedings concerning the possible abuse of a dominant position by the Alma Career Group in the field of advertising on job portals...
2025-11-20 / Office for the Protection of Competition imposed fine of CZK 9.9 million on K + B Progres for fixing prices for retailers The Office for the Protection of Competition issued a decision to impose a fine of CZK 9,904,000 on K + B Progres, a.s., for infringement of national and EU competition rules. The company was found guilty...
2025-11-13 / Save the Date: ICN Unilateral Conduct Workshop to be held in Prague in April 2026 The Office for the Protection of Competition of the Czech Republic will host next year’s workshop of the International Competition Network (ICN) focusing on unilateral conduct
2025-11-07 / The 2025 St. Martin's Conference Addressed EU-wide Issues and Czech Competition Policy Tools On 5 and 6 November 2025, the 18th annual St. Martin's Conference on news and current trends in the protection of competition and significant market power was held at the premises of the Office for the...