Zakłady Górniczo-Hutnicze Bolesław may take over Huta Cynku Miasteczko Śląskie and Doradus – Śrubex from Łańcut. The President of UOKiK decided that these transactions will not result in lessening of competition. The provisions on the concentration of undertakings have been binding in Poland since 1987

This year the Office has already issued almost 80 decisions on concentration, compered to 177 in 2008. However, the greatest number of notifications of concentration among enterprises was examined by the Office in 1990-1994, i.e. 2,850. The high number resulted from the nature of the transformation period, in which course successive governments implemented sector restructuring and privatization programmes. Moreover, other criteria applied then, which determined whether the intention of concentration should be subject to a notification to UOKiK.

One of the latest decisions issued by the President of UOKiK regarded a consent for Zakłady Górniczo-Hutnicze Bolesław from Bukowno to take control over Huta Cynku Miasteczko Śląskie. The former enterpreneur deals, inter alia, with extraction, processing and sale of zinc and lead ores, as well as production and sale of zinc, its alloys and sulfuric acid. The Treasury is the sole shareholder of the company.

Huta Cynku Miasteczko Śląskie, which is the subject of takeover, conducts its activity mainly in the field of production and sale of zinc and its alloys. All shares of Huta Cynku are owned by the Treasury.

The second consent concerned the takeover of Fabryka Śrub Śrubex in Łańcut by Doradus. The latter undertaking is controlled by Vega Investment – a company which main business activity consists in ownership and management of shares or stocks of other entities. Srubex currently does not carry out production activity, but it is only a holding company which owns 100% of shares of Łańcucka Fabryka Śrub, which is not acquired by Doradus.

Having carried out the antitrust proceedings, the President of the Office decided that these concentrations will not significantly impede competition, particularly by the creation or strengthening of a dominant market position.

The first provisions on concentrations emerged in 1987 in the Act on counteracting monopolistic practices in the national economy. On their basis, the concentration was controlled by the Minister of Finance, who could prohibit the transaction within two months from the date of submitting the intention of notification. Since 1990 the intention to merge and transform entities has been subject to a notification to the newly established Antitrust Office.

The Act has been amended several times since its first publication. In 1995 the first turnover thresholds were introduced, which conditioned the obligation to notify the transaction to the Office. The provisions took on their current shape in 2007 with the adoption of the new Act on competition and consumer protection. A transaction should be notified to the President of UOKiK if it involves enterprises whose combined turnover in the year preceding the year of the notification exceeded the equivalent of EUR 1 billion worldwide, or EUR 50 million in Poland.

A seminar organised by UOKiK on 29th October this year is also devoted to mergers. It is another meeting of the Central European Competition Initiative (CECI). The organisation was founded in 2003 and it brings together six countries: the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Hungary and Austria. The seminar is an opportunity to exchange experiences and opinions on the optimal solutions to strengthen the rules of free competition.

It is also the first event devoted to 20th anniversary of UOKiK, which was established as an important element of political transformation.

Additional information:
Małgorzata Cieloch, Spokesperson for UOKiK
Department of International Relations and Communication
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