The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection initiated antitrust proceedings to check whether Kreisel Technika Budowlana has made a competition restricting agreement with its distributors

Kreisel is one of the largest producers of construction chemistry in Poland. It is involved, among other things, in the production of glue for glaze and gres tiles, plaster, as well as mortar. What raises the Office’s concerns are agreements made by the company with its distributors.

In the course of the antitrust proceedings, the Office is going to check whether the agreements obligated Kreisel’s business partners to apply fixed minimal prices of wholesale resale of the company’s products. Information collected by the Office during explanatory proceedings suggests that to sell goods at a price lower than the one stipulated in the agreement the distributors needed a written consent of Kreisel.

Joint fixing of prices is one of the most serious infringements of antitrust law. Negative consequences of unlawful agreements concluded by enterprises also affect the situation of consumers, making it impossible for the weaker market participants to benefit from better offer in terms of price and quality.

According to the Act on competition and consumer protection, antitrust proceedings should finish not later than within five months of the date of their launch. If the charges are confirmed, the President of UOKiK may punish the enerprises with fines of up to 10% of their revenue in the preceding year.

Additional information:
Małgorzata Cieloch, Spokesperson for UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw, Poland
Tel. (+48 22) 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 430
faks (+48 22) 826 11 86
E-mail: mcieloch@uokik.gov.pl

UOKiK Branch Office in Poznań
ul. Zielona 8, 61-851 Poznań, Poland
Tel. (+48 61) 852 15 17, 852 77 50
faks (+48 61) 851 86 44
E-mail: poznan@uokik.gov.pl