Update: Lactalis said in a press release that the sanctions were not applied as a result of the Competition Council finding anti-competitive practices committed by the three companies, which contested the fines in court. "The Bucharest Court of Appeal has accepted the requests for suspension of the decision on comminatory fines formulated by Dorna Lactate and Covalact, thus giving the companies a win. The other file for suspension pending at the Bucharest Court of Appeal is to be judged in the coming days," reads the release.

Lactalis also said that the three dairies targeted by the fines provided to the Competition Council, during the inspection, "all the requested documents related to the object of the investigation and facilitated the authority's access to all the necessary information according to the requests of the competition inspectors."

It added: "In this sense, the companies granted the inspectors access to all the documents and/or correspondence accessible to the companies at the work points and headquarters inspected, with all the transparency and fully compliant conduct required in this case."

Initial story: Romania’s competition body Consiliul Concurentei slapped fines summing up to at least EUR 2.9 mln to major dairies Albalact, Covalact and Dorna Lactate – all of them part of the French group Lactalis – for refusal to disclose information during inspections aimed at establishing potential anti-competitive arrangements.

The per-diem fines are rising until the companies agree to disclose the required information.

The competition authority said it applied these fines because the three companies did not grant access to the competition inspectors to certain e-mail accounts or correspondences used by the employees or representatives of the companies during the unannounced inspection carried out between March 28 and 30, 2023.

In order to force the companies to provide access to information, fines exceeding RON 130,000 (EUR 26,000) were imposed for each day of delay – an amount calculated from the date of communication of the sanction until the date when they will allow access of Consiliul Concurentei representatives to the requested information and documents.

The competition authority also launched, at the end of March this year, three investigations into possible pricing agreements on the markets for the production and/or marketing of sunflower oil, butter and sugar.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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