8 decisions since the beginning of the year and 19 ongoing proceedings – these are effects of UOKiK’s combating the most serious violations of competition. Recent decisions on inadmisible agreements regard the market of estate agencies, children’s clothes and footwear and distribution of presentation devices

Agreements which have as their object or effect elimination, or restriction of competition, i.a. by means of jointly fixing prices of goods and services, shall be prohibited under the antitrust law. Such practices present the most serious violations of competition. Their results  affect  inter alia  consumers who are forced to pay higher prices than in conditions of undisturbed competition. Moreover, they are extremely difficult to detect due to their secret nature. Since the beginning of the year the Office has issued 8 decisions on unlawful agreements between undertakings and 19 proceedings are in progress.

One of the recent decisions of the President of UOKiK concerns the collusion between estate agencies in Elbląg. The entities established Elbląg Estate Corporation in 1999 andfixed minimum commission rates for services. The rates were to be applied by all corporation members. For participation in the collusion restricting competition, the President of UOKiK imposed on eight participants a financial penalty exceeding PLN 27 thousand (PLN 27 375). What is important – the questioned practice was changed during the proceedings.

It is worth emphasizing that the agreement is deemed prohibited even if it is only concluded, not yet applied. The Vidis company, distributor of projection devices(projectors, screens, monitors and interactive boards) and its five commercial partners experienced the practice. The company fixed suggested retail prices of its products in distribution agreements. Rates applied by recipients could have been lower only by 10 percent than assumed, otherwise the partnership agreement could have been terminated. Although distributors applied prices other than suggested in dealings with recipients and Vidis did not make them face the consequences, the very fact of concluding the anticompetitive agreement is a violation of law. That is why the President of the Office imposed a penalty on Vidis – initiator of the collusion – in the amount of PLN 23 thousand. Other participants of the collusion – AV Multimedia from Kielce, Nordweco, Warsaw Centre of Multimedia Projections and AV Projekt from Psary Małe – will have to pay almost PLN 15 thousand in total (PLN 14 869). In this case, UOKiK’s intervention also led to the change of  inadmissible  clause in agreements.

Both decisions are not final.The undertaking may lodge an appeal to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection.

Fixing sale prices of children’s clothes and footwear between Intermax from Poznań and its seven distributors – this is another decision of the President of UOKiK. The Office determined that according to concluded agreements on cooperation, each distributor had to sell products from a given season (spring-summer from January to June and fall-winter from July to December) at prices suggested by Intermax. Only after the season ended, they could sell at different prices. The participants of the collusion were fined by the President of UOKiK with penalties resectively amounting to: Intermax in Poznań – initiator of the agreement – PLN 46 187, DAMilTrans in Maćkowice – PLN 2 716, Ewa in Sieradz – PLN 1 502, and EPOX in Łódź – PLN 4 661. Four other participants  – Veris in Strzelce Opolskie, TRĘDI clothes shop in Bolesławiec, PHU Bumika in Gorzów Wielkopolski, and BAX in Stargard Szczeciński – were not imposed penalties by the Office due to their low revenue.  The decision is not final.  The parties appealed  against the decision.

Furthermore, UOKiK currently conducts 19 proceedings regarding collusions. Undertakings operating on the clothes and tourist equipment market are suspected of unlawful agreements. Explanatory proceedings conducted by the Office showed that VF Polska Distribution concluded the agreement with its contractors, in which it obliged them to observe recommended retail prices. This way it could deprive its commercial partners of possibility to freely establish their rates. Joint price fixing could have concerned  inter alia  popular brands such as The North Face and JanSport. Apart from VF Polska Distribution, the following undertakings are suspected of violating the law: Intersport Polska, Misiek Bury, Cerro Torre Sport, Trekker Sport, Alp from Mikołowo, Sports Shop Dyskobol from Szczecin and Espina-Sport.

The maximum financial sanction for participating in competition-restricting agreement amounts to 10% of undertaking's revenue obtained in the year preceding the issuance of the decision. Participants of a collusion who want to avoid severe penalty may take advantage of the leniency program. The undertaking which will provide useful evidence for proving the existance of the practice, was not the agreement’s initiator and did not induce other enterprises to prohibited actions, may expect to be granted full immunity from the fine. The application in this respect can be submitted in person at the seat of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection in Warsaw, to the employee of UOKiK for official record, by mail, faks or email: leniency@uokik.gov.pl.  Answers to all questions regarding the programme are provided by UOKiK’s  lawyers under the telephone number: (+48 22) 55 60 555.

Additional information for the media:
Małgorzata Cieloch, Spokesperson for UOKiK
Department of International Relations and Communication
Pl. Powstańcow Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa
Tel.:(+48 22) 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 430
faks (+48 22) 826 11 86
E-mail: malgorzata.cieloch@uokik.gov.pl