Administrative proceeding with the company Kofola settled
During the investigation initiated in November 2007, the Office proved that the companies of the given group enetered during the years 2001 to 2008 into forbidden and void vertical agreements on retail price maintenance with their customers.
The agreements were concluded with some of the wholesale customers in various regions of the Czech Republic. These customers were bound to apply unified prices in further sale. The agreements mentioned above restrained competitive relations among Kofola customers and therefore decreased consumer benefits, otherwise resulting from the unharmed competition on the market of non-alcoholic beverages. Resale price maintenance ultimately leads to price increase for consumers and restriction of competition within the market of the given brand. Therefore, the Czech and European competition law consider such behaviour to be serious breach of competition rules.
For the first time in its history, the Office used so-called settlement procedure. The result of the settlement is not only substantial decreasing of the duration of administrative proceeding, but also reduction of the fine imposed on the company Kofola Holding. The penalty imposed is 13.552 million CZK, which sum is approximately only half of the fine that would be imposed without settlement, that means without the cooperation of the company with the Office and its acknowledgement of the behaviour.
External Relations Department of the Office
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...
2025-07-14 / The Office for the Protection of Competition launched a reporting tool for anonymous and confidential reporting of suspected infringements of the rules laid down in the Act on the Protection of Competition Complaints submitted by the public are highly valuable source of information for the Office. They can help uncover illegal conduct, expedite investigations, initiate administrative proceedings, and ultimately...
2025-07-07 / Annual Report 2024 in English The Office for the Protection of Competition has published the English version of its 2024 Annual Report.The Office operates in the areas of competition protection, oversight of public procurement, control...
2025-07-02 / Office Fines Major Cartel in Railway Construction Sector More Than CZK 150 million By its first-instance decision, the Office for the Protection of Competition has imposed fines totalling CZK 157,693,000 on six undertakings for a series of cartel agreements related to public contracts...
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...