• In Poland, coal is sold mainly by small companies with a small number of employees.
• These are the conclusions of a research into the structure of the coal distribution market.
• The inspectors collected information from nearly 3,900 depots.

Since July this year, UOKiK’s President has been running preliminary investigation aimed at analysing the situation on the coal market. As part of the survey, stepped up by the President of UOKiK in November this year, inspectors audited nearly 3,900 coal depots checking, inter alia, the number of employees or sales volumes. Based on the information collected, it was possible to assess the structure of the market for coal retailers in Poland. Analysis of the data collected since November shows that the vast majority of entities operate only one depot. Such entities account for around 88 per cent of the coal operators under investigation. The median revenue from coal sales for the first three quarters of this year for entities in this group amounted to approximately PLN 600 000. In contrast, operators of a maximum of three coal depots accounted for more than 97 per cent of the retailers under investigation and the median of the aforementioned revenues for this group was approximately PLN 650,000.

- The data collected clearly shows that coal is sold mainly by small companies, employing a small number of employees and earning relatively little revenue from coal sales. For most of them, coal sales is not their core business but a secondary activity - more than half of the entrepreneurs under investigation reported that coal sales represented less than 30 per cent of their total revenue – says President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny.

The most common forms of business among the entities under investigation are sole proprietorship, civil law partnership, and partnership. Others, such as the incorporated company or the cooperative, are considerably less common, as illustrated in the chart below.

In terms of the number of employees, entities with up to nine employees far dominate, accounting for 2,072. Analysis of the data obtained from the smallest operatorss helps to refine the results. Among entrepreneurs with up to nine employees, as many as 1408 are micro businesses with up to three employees.

As part of the inspections completed to date, the legality of the operators’ business is being examined, including inter alia their compliance with the requirement to be registered on the portal https://cieplo.gov.pl/ and keep their coal sale prices updated. Non-compliance with the requirements results in a notice to the National Revenue Administration, which can impose a fine of PLN 1,500 on the coal depot moperator, and in the event of repeated failure to comply with the obligations, the sanction can be up to PLN 15,000. There are currently more than 4,500 registered coal depots on the website. Their number has almost doubled since the beginning of November.

Things to remember when buying coal

• Based on the information available on https://cieplo.gov.pl/ website, you can check where you can buy coal, at what price, and thus make the best purchasing decision for yourself.
• Do you wish to inform UOKiK about competition-restricting practices? Visit https://konkurencja.uokik.gov.pl/sygnalista/ and fill out a simple form. The system we use guarantees full anonymity, including to the Office itself.

Additional information for the media:

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