The Federal Competition Authority (BWB) has been investigating extensive antitrust violations in the domestic construction sector since 2017. Now the next multi-million dollar fine was welcomed. At the request of the BWB, the cartel court imposed a fine of 27.15 million euros on construction company Swietelsky and found a violation by key witness Kostmann, a Carinthian company, the BWB announced on Tuesday.
According to the information, the penalty became legally binding on September 1, 2023 by decision of March 27, 2023. The construction company was accused of “a uniform and continuous violation of the antitrust prohibition in the form of price fixing, market sharing and information exchange with competitors in violation of the antitrust law relating to public and private procurement in the field of construction and civil engineering. in large parts of Austria in the period from at least July 2002 to October 2017.”
Milder punishment due to status as key witness
The BWB filed the application for the imposition of this “reduced fine” against Swietelsky AG and its subsidiaries C. Peters Baugesellschaft mbH and Mittagale Baugesellschaft mbH (together “Swietelsky”) at the end of October of the previous year.
According to the information, Swietelsky had already approached the BWB in the summer of 2017 “shortly after the first investigative actions and was subsequently the second Austrian construction company to cooperate continuously and comprehensively within the framework of the leniency program.” Swietelsky also made a comprehensive admission in which she accepted the BWB’s presentation of the facts and the amount of the fine and undisputedly recognized the BWB’s legal assessment, with the BWB explaining the reduced fine.
Kostmann remains without fine
Kärntner Kostmann GesmbH escapes without penalty. In a decision dated June 20, 2023, the Supreme Court of Vienna, as an antitrust court, found a violation of the antitrust prohibition by the company Kostmann GesmbH (iF “Kostmann”) at the request of the Federal Competition Authority. However, Kostmann had already submitted an application for leniency in the spring of 2017 and cooperated continuously and extensively, so that the fine was completely waived. The ruling of the cartel court is legally binding.
According to the BWB, Kostmann was involved in a uniform and continuous violation of anti-competitive agreements, customer and territory allocations and the exchange of competitively sensitive information with competitors regarding public and private procurement in the field of civil engineering. in particular in the field of road construction, in the period from at least July 2002 to May 2017.
Due to the size of the company and the regional focus of Kostmann’s activities, the direct involvement, according to the cartel monitors, was “not to the same extent and mainly extended to Carinthia, Styria and Lower Austria”. In individual cases, other Austrian states were also affected, namely Vienna, Upper Austria and Burgenland.
Agreements in the construction sector
The BWB has been conducting research into agreements in the construction sector for about six years. It is the largest cartel in the agency’s history. The construction company Porr had to pay 62 million euros and Strabag 45 million euros.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
