Cartel agreement of cattle breeding comopanies
“The cartel agreement led to unification of prices for these products and of course had a negative impact on cattle breeders, who had only limited choice of product from the view of price and quality. We cannot exclude that the price agreement in its final consequence also led to unnecessary increase of prices with negative impacts on final consumer. The cartel agreement and its effects related to the whole republic and the competitors together covered market share exceeding 50%,” said the Chairman of the Office, Mr. Josef Bednář.
The highest fine of half a million Czech crowns has to be paid by company Holding Českomoravská plemenářská unie, k.s., and the other sanctions are as follows: Jihočeský chovatel, a.s. – CZK 300 000, REPROGEN, a.s. – CZK 300 000, PLEBO BRNO, a.s. – CZK 300 000, AGRO – Měřín, a.s. – CZK 300 000, Plemenáři Brno, a.s. – CZK 270 000, CHOVSERVIS, a.s. – CZK 300 000, PLEMENÁŘSKÉ SLUŽBY, a.s. – CZK 300 000. The above-mentioned companies performed the anticompetitive conduct in years 1998-2001 (with the exception of company Plemenáři Brno, which performed the conduct only till the end of 2000).
The Office initiated the investigation of the case on the basis of its own initiative, when, in relation to another investigation, it succeeded in securing direct written evidence on co-ordination among the above-mentioned undertakings. “Conclusion of the cartel agreement was realised both on the basis of contracts including prohibited agreements and in form of concerted practices. It results from the minutes of the undertakings´ negotiation that they were making arrangements on prices”, added the Chairman of the Office, Mr. Josef Bednář.
Press and Information Department
2025-06-12 / EUROMEDIA and PEMIC Concentration Approval Subject to Commitments, Acquirer is Obliged to Divest the Wholesale Distribution of Printed Books The Office for the Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as “the Office”) has approved the concentration of undertaking EUROMEDIA GROUP, a.s., PEMIC BOOKS a.s. and BOOKNET s.r.o. subject...
2025-06-10 / The Office Launches Sector Inquiry in the Area of Publicly Accessible Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles The Office for the Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as "the Office") has launched a sector inquiry into the area of publicly accessible charging stations. Specifically, it is examining...
2025-04-25 / New competition tools: the way to more efficient competition law enforcement Opening remarks of the Chairman of the Office for the Protection of Competition Petr Mlsna delivered at the Interanational Chamber of Commerce Czech the Antitrust Conference in Prague on 24 April 2025...
2025-04-22 / MIDs Competition Authorities: Strengthening Competitiveness and Competition in the EU Single Market The Czech Office for the Protection of Competition, together with the competition authorities of Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Austria, has issued a joint statement warning against...
2025-01-08 / Google Made Changes to one of its Services in Reaction to the Investigation of the Office Last year, the Office for the Protection of Competition investigated possible abuse of a dominant position by Google Czech Republic, s.r.o, its parent company Google International LLC and Google Ireland...
2024-11-19 / Pet Food Supplier VAFO Has to Pay CZK 120 million for Prohibited Resale Price Fixing The Office for the Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as “the Office”) imposed a fine of CZK 120,121,000 on the undertaking VAFO PRAHA (hereinafter referred to as "VAFO") for the...
2024-10-16 / The Office is Conducting a Dawn Raid at the Premises of the Undertaking Seznam.cz Following numerous media inquiries, we confirm that the Office for the Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as “the Office“) is conducting an unannounced inspection of Seznam.cz
2024-10-01 / Merger of PPF Group and Nordic Telecom May Take Place Subject to Commitments The Office for the Protection of Competition has cleared the merger by its final decision, as a result of which PPF TMT Holdco 2 B.V. may acquire, through O2 Czech Republic a.s., sole control over Nordic...