UOKiK established that in 2006 PKP Cargo introduced regulations allowing it to refuse to sign a special agreement with enterprises it saw as offering competition to its own logistics services. The contracts which were offered extended attractive discounts to companies that did not compete directly with PKP Cargo, thus preventing competitors from expanding their own activity and gaining new customers, thus offering no threat to the dominant company. These illegal practices went on until 2007.
This is the Office’s second decision arising from the 2006 proceedings, which were undertaken following a complaint from a PKP Cargo competitor, CTL Logistics, and this latest case may yet be subject to an appeal. In 2009 PKP Cargo was fined more than zł60 million (€13.8 million), which the court of second instance upheld. In October 2013, however, the Supreme Court overturned the judgment, mainly so UOKiK could extend the scope of its investigation, and remanded the case for reconsideration by the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection.
The original charge concerned special agreements, but after PKP Cargo changed its trade policy, the charges were widened to consider the company’s refusal to sign commercial contracts and provide discounts to non-competitors. In March 2014 the competition court overturned UOKiK’s 2009 decision, forcing the Authority to continue a case limited in scope in comparison with the original complaint.
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