• The President of UOKiK has initiated antitrust proceedings against the Przedsiębiorstwo Wielobranżowe Atex company.
• The enterprise may have imposed on his trading partners the prices for reselling coal.
• As a result, distributors working with Atex have not been able to sell heating fuel to consumers cheaper than at predetermined prices.

The core business of Przedsiębiorstwo Wielobranżowe Atex is import, distribution and wholesale and retail sale of hard coal, including eco-pea coal, eco-powdered coal and coke, as well as wood pellets. The company sells products on its own or through a partner network that, according to current arrangements, operates coal depots in eight voivodeships. The President of the Office is in possession of evidence that unauthorised price fixing might have occurred in the sale of heating fuel.

Of relevance to this case is that the fuel commodity distribution system set up by Atex is based on a network of associates, operating as intermediaries. However, it is suspected that, in this particular case, this form of cooperation may go beyond the framework of commercial intermediation that is acceptable under competition law and may be a method of restricting genuinely independent distributors' freedom to shape their pricing policy.

- Our concern is that Atex may impose on distributors the prices at which they sell coal. As independent traders, they should enjoy the freedom to set prices. As a result of Atex's actions, they may be deprived of the ability to offer potential customers the purchase of cheaper heating fuel for their homes at prices other than the price set authoritatively by Atex – President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny, emphasises.

The Office's findings show that Atex's contractors are obliged to sell heating fuel, the assortment and price of which are specified in an annex to the cooperation agreement. The contractor may not change the prices of these goods. Atex company may face a penalty of up to 10% of its annual turnover for antitrust practices.

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