In 2015, the Competition Council finalized 21 investigations in electricity, fuels and telecoms
In 2015, the Competition Council finalized 21 investigations in the fields of electricity, fuels and telecommunications, with fines amounting to some 54 million Euros, 30% more than in 2014. At the same time, the Council started investigations into some serious anti-competitive practices, 62% of the new procedures targeting suspected cartels or cases of abuse of power. In an interview to Radio Romania, Bogdan Chiritoiu, the president of the Competition Council, explained what the Romanian economy looked like as a result of these actions:
Bogdan Chiritoiu: “There are obviously sectors that go well and where Romania has had some of the best performances in the EU, in the sense that we have good quality services at very attractive prices, in particular in mobile telecommunications. As regards foodstuffs, Romania has lower prices than the EU average, and competition on the market is substantial. New shops and stores appear every day. There are also sectors where the situation has been improving, such as the banking sector, where the growing competition has translated, for instance, in lower interest rates. Still, the banking sector remains more expensive than in other EU countries. Unfortunately, there are also areas where the competition is scarce, such as the cement industry, where we only have three manufacturers, and some liberal professions, such as notaries public, which are quite ironically called liberal. Actually, they are very confined, extremely regulated. There is a limited number of notaries, who are not allowed to cut down tariffs, and so on.”
The Romanian state and the Property Fund are preparing the capitalization of the Romanian Post Corporation by 50 million Euro, to cover its debts to the state before listing a minority stake on the stock exchange, Bogdan Chiritoiu, the president of the Competition Council has announced:
Bogdan Chiritoiu: “The Romanian Post is one of the state-owned companies that have been doing better lately. Unfortunately, the state still owns companies that are in a difficult situation, they are losing money and their existence is endangered. The Post, however, is not one of them, as it has had a positive development in the past years. The Government is working with the European Commission to restructure the company, to make its operation more efficient and to make sure it complies with all EU regulations, because a fine from the European Commission would have a huge negative impact. The next step would be to attract a partner from the private sector and, in this way, to ensure the long term sustainability of the company. The Post is in an advanced stage in contracting an external loan, which would again be a sign of credibility. It’s a big deal not to depend on the state entirely.”
The president of the Competition Council also spoke about the collaboration with the Ministry of European funds:
Bogdan Chiritoiu: “So far, a lot of energy in Romania has been put into how to spend the money earmarked to us. The deadline by which we could spend the European funds available for the 2007-2013 period was last year. We are now starting to spend the money from the budget for 2014-2020. To do this, however, we must redefine the documentation, which changes a lot in some cases. The Ministry for European funds is responsible for the guidelines for applicants, but we are also required in some cases to confirm that the rules for state aid are respected and that state aid is not granted illegally. Naturally, this is a priority for the government and for the country and we support the ministry by providing assistance as soon as possible, so as not to delay the absorption of European funds.”
The Competition Council has also announced its collaboration with the Justice Ministry on a bill regulating compensations for the victims of unfair competition practices.
Bogdan Chiritoiu: “The European Commission has launched a directive that must be adopted by member states by the end of the year. This directive seeks to facilitate the award of compensations for the victims of unfair competition. In all European states, when a company violates the competition law, it receives a big fine that goes to the state budget. The European Commission wants the victims to receive compensations as well, because unfair competition also causes losses to consumers, whether natural persons or legal entities, as people pay more for a product or service. We must therefore create a mechanism by which victims receive compensations for paying more. The directive facilitates access to courts to claim such compensations. Once a decision of the competition authority, in Romania’s case the Competition Council, is validated by court, in our case the administrative court, no further evidence is required when applying for compensations. The Competition Council collects a lot of documents as evidence and they will become available to those who go to court to recover their losses. Victims will benefit from the fact that we have already proven an infringement has occurred and secondly, from the evidence we have gathered as part of our investigations.”
This autumn, the Competition Council will make public the results of a new study on the pharmaceutical market in Romania, which has been at the heart of a public controversy and large-scale media investigations.
(translated by: Mihaela Ignatescu, Cristina Mateescu)
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