The Office Revealed and Punished Another Cartel Agreement between Construction Companies

2024-05-09
The Office for the Protection of Competition imposed fines totalling CZK 7,442,000 on the construction companies B.H.S. BOHEMIA, a.s., SEŽEV facility s.r.o., COMMODUM, spol. s r.o. and Hroší stavby Morava a.s. for participation in cartel agreements concerning public procurement in construction sector. The decision has already become final, the parties to the proceedings have fulfilled the conditions for settlement and have not filed an appeal.
The above mentioned undertakings illegally colluded on their participation and bids in public contracts awarded by the Railway Administration in 2015, namely "Demolition works on buildings managed by the OŘ Brno" (B.H.S. BOHEMIA and SEŽEV facility), "Okrouhlice, RZZ building - repair of the building" (B.H.S. BOHEMIA and COMMODUM) and "Tišnov, RZZ building - repair of the outer shell" (B.H.S. BOHEMIA and Hroší stavby Morava). The members of the cartel then submitted their coordinated bids to the Contracting Authority, thereby acting in a concerted practise with the aim to distort competition.
The Office identified the indexation of the individual item prices in the bids and found, after taking evidence, that this indexation must have been the result of agreements between the parties to the proceedings.
When setting the fines, the Office based its decision on the value of the public contracts that were the subject of the prohibited agreement. The fine for the undertaking B.H.S. BOHEMIA was increased by 25 % and 20 % for its participation in all three agreements. For the other parties, the fines were increased to reach at least 0,5 % of the undertaking's total net turnover and to fulfil their punitive function. All the parties have complied with the conditions for settlement, for which their fines were reduced by 20 %. The undertakings B.H.S. BOHEMIA and Hroší stavby Morava also achieved a further reduction of the fine by introducing an effective compliance programme to prevent possible future infringements of competition law.
 
The fines for the cartel members are:
B.H.S. BOHEMIA, a.s.         CZK 538,000 
SEŽEV facility s.r.o.             CZK 2,052,000 
COMMODUM, spol. s r.o.    CZK 1,761,000 
Hroší stavby Morava a.s.     CZK 3,091,000 
 
Press Unit of the Office for the Protection of Competition
24/078 – S0570/2022
 

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...

2024-09-16 / The 2024 St. Martin's Conference Program Will Offer a new Competition Tool and Private Enforcement The Office for the Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as "the Office") is preparing the 17th annual St. Martin Conference on trends, news and hot topics in the field of competition. The...

2024-07-11 / English Version of Annual Report 2023 published The Office for the Protection of Competition presents the English version of its annual report for the year 2023, summarising the results of its activities in all areas of its competence, i.e., in the...

2024-06-19 / Office for the Protection of Competition Cooperates with European Public Prosecutor's Office Today in Luxembourg, Mr Petr Mlsna, the Chairman of the Office for the Protection of Competition, signed an agreement with the European chief prosecutor, Ms Laura Codruţa Kövesi, on cooperation between...

2024-04-23 / EP ENERGY TRADING Infringed Competition Act by Early Implementation of Merger With Gazela Energy The Office for the Protection of Competition (the Office) imposed a fine of CZK 18,840,000 on the undertaking EP ENERGY TRADING. for concluding a concentration between undertakings prior to the notification...

2024-04-18 / Sector Inquiry on Waste Management The Office for the Protection of Competition (the Office) has initiated a large-scale sector inquiry focused on waste management. Over the next two years, the Office shall obtain information from all...

If you want to recieve news by email please give us your adress and choose topic.

Email:
Significant Market Power
Public Procurement
State Aid
Competition
Significant Market Power
cs | en
+420 542 167 111 · posta@uohs.gov.cz