A widespread construction cartel in Austria that was busted in 2017 has now resulted in a $1 million fine for construction company Swietelsky. The Federal Competition Authority (BWB) will seek a EUR 27.15 million fine from the Cartel Court against Swietelsky AG and two subsidiaries, it announced on Thursday.
According to the authority, the company cooperated in the investigation as a key witness and has already admitted to being involved in illegal agreements between July 2002 and October 2017 with more than 30 other companies.
Through his continued and extensive collaboration, Swietelsky “greatly facilitated and accelerated the processing of the complex and extensive facts, including with regard to many other companies in the construction industry,” the antitrust authority said Thursday. In addition, Swietelsky – like Porr – has put in place a certified compliance system to prevent future violations of the long-term cartel prohibition. These circumstances mitigate the fine.
“Milestone of Processing”
“With this result, a new milestone has been reached in the processing of the largest cartel ever discovered in Austria,” emphasized interim BWB boss Natalie Harsdorf-Borsch.
Construction companies fine millions
In the spring of 2017, the BWB, together with the Public Prosecution Service for Economic Affairs and Corruption (WKStA), carried out searches as part of their investigation into possible collusion in the construction industry and seized a lot of data. According to the BWB, the cartel that was discovered affected the construction industry or the construction industry, which includes almost all construction and civil engineering sectors, with a particular focus on road construction.
In the course of the cartel investigation, the construction group Porr was fined 62.35 million euros last autumn, the highest cartel fine in the history of the BWB. Porr admitted to illegal price fixing and also cooperated to clarify the matter. Before that, in the summer of 2021, the cartel guards had already applied for a fine of 45.37 million euros against Porr’s competitor Strabag at the cartel court.
Source: Krone
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