The Office fines the cartel concluded between the undertakings Dereza and Auböck
Both undertakings have applied for leniency and settlement procedure, resulting in a reduction of 36% (for DEREZA) and 52% (for Auböck) in the fines imposed. The decision is final, with the exception of the fine for one of the parties, which has appealed against the amount of the fine.
The abovementioned undertakings committed an infringement of the Act on the Protection of Competition in connection with the award procedure of the city of Kralupy nad Vltavou entitled "Reconstruction of the canteen and kitchen and an extension above the canteen at the primary school Komenského náměstí 198, Kralupy nad Vltavou", which was performed at the beginning of 2019. The Office has proved that the undertakings DEREZA and Auböck coordinated their bids and participation in the award procedure in a way that the more advantageous bid was submitted by DEREZA. By doing so, both undertakings influenced the outcome of the award procedure and distorted fair competition.
The Office became interested in the public contract of the city of Kralupy nad Vltavou in the amount exceeding CZK 80 million on the basis of a complaint received. Both undertakings then applied for leniency in the course of the administrative proceedings and provided the Office with details of their illegal conduct in exchange for a reduction of the fine – the undertakings Auböck and DEREZA agreed to provide details on the budget prepared for the purpose of the award procedure. Subsequently, this practice was implemented and Auböck used the budget from DEREZA as a basis for drawing up a cover bid. Auböck's bid was less attractive for the contracting authority than DEREZA's bid.
DEREZA was fined CZK 3,748,000 and Auböck was fined CZK 2,811,000. In case the parties to the proceedings had not applied for leniency and settlement, they would have faced sanctions exceeding CZK 10 million in total and a prohibition to perform public contracts for up to 3 years.
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