Romania’s Competition Council sanctioned the company Hewlett - Packard (HP) Romania with a fine of about EUR 665,000 for abuse of dominant position.

According to the competition authority, HP Romania has taken advantage of its dominant position to terminate before the agreed deadline and without any explanation a contract which granted its partners special prices for HP supplies, which they delivered to an important client in the business segment.  HP Romania cancelled the contract five months before the deadline, terminating the commercial relationships with the four partner companies.

Between 2007 and 2011, HP Romania held a dominant position on the inkjet printer market for the business segment, with a market share of over 80%.

The investigation was initiated in 2012, following a complaint. The big corporate client was apparently OMV Petrom.

editor@romania-insider.com