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 for overseeing public procurement, monitoring abuses of significant market power, supervising access to transport infrastructure, and providing coordination, guidance, and advisory in the field of State aid.

 

As part of its competition enforcement activities, the Czech Competition Authority imposed the highest fines seen in the past decade, amounting to nearly CZK 500 million. Most of these sanctions were imposed for prohibited horizontal agreements, with one of the most significant cases involving a large-scale cartel between six suppliers participating in public tenders for the Czech Railway Administration. Final fines in this case totalled almost CZK 130 million. A further CZK 280 million in fines has been imposed on meal voucher issuers, although these sanctions have not yet become final. Overall, the Office issued ten decisions concerning prohibited agreements and handled a further 77 merger cases.

 

The number of administrative proceedings in the area of public procurement remains significantly higher. In 2025, a total of 573 first-instance administrative proceedings were initiated. Proceedings launched in response to formal complaints saw a notable year-on-year increase of 37%. The Office continues to focus on delivering decisions as swiftly and efficiently as possible, with first-instance proceedings initiated by bidders taking an average of 42 days to conclude last year.

 

“In the area of public procurement supervision, we are increasingly encountering complex disputes centred on the design of tender conditions or detailed challenges to the qualifications of suppliers and their expert teams. In many cases, these issues stem from inadequate preparation of procurement procedures,” commented Mr. Petr Mlsna, Chairman of the Office.

 

Although media and public attention tend to focus on high-profile tenders reviewed by the Office, its interventions affect no more than 2–3% of all public contracts awarded annually in the Czech Republic. By far the most significant case considered by the Office was the procurement procedure for the construction of a new nuclear power unit at the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant. The Office’s decision in this matter was subsequently upheld by the administrative court.

 

Further development at the Dukovany site was also a major topic from a State aid perspective. The Office facilitated discussions with the European Commission regarding the notification of support measures for the project, alongside a number of other aid schemes, including support for ONSEMI, rental housing programmes, and renewable energy initiatives.

 

The Office also issued hundreds of decisions under its relatively new remit concerning access to transport infrastructure, where it has successfully established itself as a mediator promoting fair relations between the Czech Railway Administration and rail operators. Similar progress has been made in addressing unfair trading practices within the agricultural and food supply chain, with the Office imposing several sanctions on purchasers of food and agricultural products.

 

Like competition authorities worldwide, the Office has continued to adapt to the profound changes that economies and markets have undergone in recent years. The Czech Competition Authority has therefore been investing in new technologies to improve both the detection of unlawful conduct and the analysis of data and case handling. As part of these efforts, it significantly expanded its analytical capabilities through the establishment of a Chief Economist Unit. During 2025, the new unit launched two sector inquiries, focusing on electric vehicle charging infrastructure and particularly the mobile telecommunications sector.

 

The Annual Report for 2025 is available for download here.

Press Unit of the Office