The Competition Council investigates major Romanian publishing houses for having allegedly formed a cartel with the aim of not selling books to Bookster - a book-sharing platform particularly popular among corporate employees because the subscriptions are offered as a bonus to encourage employees' personal development.

The Competition Council confirmed that it has hints of possible collusion of the publishing houses that in a coordinated manner refused to sell "to a certain customer and/or potential competitor," [identified by G4Media.ro as Bookster] with the intention of removing it from the market. In this context, the Council carried out unannounced inspections at the headquarters and offices of the investigated companies.

If the Competition Council finds a violation of competition rules, the companies involved risk fines of up to 10% of their turnover.

andrei@romania-insider.com

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