Croatia's anti-trust body closes probe into Coca-Cola contracts with catering companies

AZTN accepted the measures that Coca-Cola HBC Hrvatska had proposed to implement in order to remove the exclusivity commitment from its contracts with retailers, the regulator said in a statement on Monday.

AZTN launched in April an investigation of a cooperation agreement concluded by the soft drinks company and one of the catering facilities it supplies, which obliged the customer to only order Coca-Cola brand products and always have a full range of them.

The commitment of the buyer to exclusively purchase certain products suggests that it is possible that the competitors of Coca-Cola HBC Hrvatska may be put at disadvantage, AZTN said back then, adding that its aim was to determine whether the producer has transferred its market power in the carbonated drinks segment to the area of fruit juices, ice tea, energy beverages and mineral water.

Already in the early stages of the investigation, Coca-Cola HBC Hrvatska on its own initiative proposed to take certain steps in order to amend in four months the business cooperation contracts with the respective buyers, AZTN said this week.

In particular, Coca-Cola HBC Hrvatska pledged to separate the sale of carbonated drinks from the sale of non-carbonated drinks (including fruit juices, ice tea and mineral water, among others) and alcoholic beverages where it does not have a dominant position, and to sign separate contracts with buyers for each programme, thus allowing the buyer to chose whether to opt for exclusivity terms with the Coca-Cola products or have them as supplementary to the products of rival companies.