Moldova's antitrust body fines Petrom, Rompetrol, Lukoil units

An investigation initiated in 2021 revealed that Lukoil Moldova, Bemol Retail, Datario, Petrom Moldova, Rompetrol Moldova and Tirex Petrol had agreed the coordinate the prices at which petroleum products were sold to customers, the Competition Council said in a statement on Wednesday.

Between 2019 and 2021, the fuel retailers carried out several rounds of price changes with the same values. These changes occurred both consecutively and concomitantly.

"The arguments put forward by the companies were not accepted by the Competition Council, because the justifications brought by them could not plausibly explain the similar behaviour in several companies. The Council therefore found that such conduct would have been impossible in the absence of an agreement between the competitors," the antitrust watchdog said.

Bemol Retail, Datario, and Tirex Petrol will have to pay fines of 29 million lei, 1.1 million lei, and 1.5 million lei, respectively.

Petrom Moldova, the local unit of Romania’s top oil and gas group OMV Petrom [BSE:SNP] was fined with 77.8 million lei, whereas Rompetrol Moldova, a subsidiary of KMG International Group, which also owns Romania's Rompetrol Rafinare [BSE:RRC], will have to pay 191.8 million lei. Lastly, Lukoil Moldova, a unit of Russia's Lukoil, was fined 180.2 million lei.

The companies can challenge the competition authority's decision in a specialised court within 30 days of receiving it.

(1 euro = 19.2542 Moldovan lei)