Romanian court rejects appeal against MOL Romania fine
The Bucharest Court of Appeals has rejected an appeal by the Romanian unit of Hungarian oil and gas company MOL, together with local peers Rompetrol Downstream and ENI Romania, against a fine levied by the competition authority for cartel activity, internet portal Hotnews said on Monday.
MOL Romania will appeal the decision, MOL said when asked about the news of the ruling.
The parties have five days to file an appeal of the first-instance ruling.
The Romanian competition authority fined MOL Romania 80.3 million Romanian lei (€18.5m) for cartel activity in January.
MOL said earlier the alleged breach involved the common withdrawal of Eco Premium pre-mixed unleaded petrol from the market in 2008.
After a prohibition on leaded petrol was introduced in Romania in 2005, refineries replaced the tetraethyl lead with other metallic additives, thus creating the ECO Premium line. MOL Romania acquired 100% of ECO Premium from local producers or from distributors, as MOL had ceased producing petrol with metallic additives by October 2004. ECO Premium sales decreased until 2008, as the number of older cars that used the fuel declined.
"MOL Romania states that withdrawing ECO Premium from its fuels portfolio was its individual business decision and not the result of an anticompetitive agreement, concerted practice," MOL said the time.
The fine on MOL Romania is equivalent to 3% of its turnover in 2010, MOL noted.
ÁKK Sells HUF 82.5 bln of Bonds at Auction, Above Plan
Hungary Treats Smooth EU Transition as Priority, Says Bóka
HU-rizon Program: HUF 8 bln Funding for International Resear...
Inspiring Women at the Focus of Gourmet Fest
SUPPORT THE BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For 27 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.
Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.
