Annual Report 2021
In 2021, the Office strived to become more open to the public despite restrictive COVID measures. A conference on State aid was held in June via webcast and a total of five Methodological Days dedicated to public procurement issues were held during the year. Apart from the ceremonial conference held in September on the occasion of the anniversary of the Office, the 14th St. Martin's Conference took place in November after a one-year break. During the year, the representatives of the Office participated in multiple conferences, workshops and other events where they discussed with the professional public the application of legal regulations within the powers of the Office. Memorandum of cooperation was signed with Masaryk University, Charles University and Mendel University and the Faculty of Law of Palacký University.
Considering decision-making practice in the field of competition, nine prohibited agreements were detected and punished, six of which concerned the most serious horizontal cartels, and fines exceeding CZK 160 million were imposed. For the first time ever, a ban on participation in public procurement was also imposed for bid rigging. The Office had significant success in judicial review of competition decisions - the Supreme Administrative Court upheld all ten decisions of the Office under review and the Regional Court in Brno upheld only two of the 12 actions filed.
In the field of public procurement supervision, the number of administrative proceedings and complaints filed increased significantly by approximately 40 percent. There were 737 decisions issued on merits and on interim measures. The total amount of fines imposed exceeded CZK 550 million, mainly due to the highest fine ever imposed in this area, which was a fine imposed on the Ministry of Defence for the purchase of army helicopters.
In the field of State aid, the Office focused on defending “COVID” aid programmes and measures and communicating their approval with the European Commission. In the field of significant market power, the Office focused on analytical activities and legislative works related to the transposition of the Directive on Unfair Trade Practices into the Czech legislation.
Annual Report 2021 5.7 MB
Press Unit of the Office for the Protection of Competition
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...
2025-11-07 / AWARDS FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROTECTION OF COMPETITION AND FOR THE BEST STUDENT THESIS WERE PRESENTED AT THE ST. MARTIN'S CONFERENCE. During the St. Martin's Conference, Mr. Petr Mlsna, Chairman of the Office for the Protection of Competition, presented Mr. Bogdan Chiritoiu, Chairman of the Romanian Competition Authority, with an award...
2025-10-13 / Merger of Car Dealers in České Budějovice Approved Subject to Conditions Consisting of KIA Car Service Centre Divesture The Office for the Protection of Competition has conditionally cleared the concentration between undertakings CB Auto a.s. and AUTO FUTURE, s.r.o., in the market of the retail sale and servicing of passenger...
2025-09-08 / St. Martin's Conference 2025: introducing topics and opening registration The Office for the Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as "the Office") invites experts and others interested in competition law to the 18th annual St. Martin's Conference, which will...
2025-08-05 / The Office Has Again Imposed Fines on Three Meal Voucher Issuers Totalling over CZK 279 million The Office for the Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as “the Office”) issued a first-instance decision to reimpose fines on meal voucher issuers, further specifying the exact reasons...