Romanian Competition Council fines 82 lacquer and paint market companies

The Romanian Competition Council has fined four producer and 78 distributor companies in the lacquer and paint market following certain irregularities with respect to deals between the two sides that established product prices.
 According to Mediafax, Competition Council representatives recently stated “The sanctions were applied as a result of four investigations which were centered around anti-competitive deals between the four producers ( Deutek S.A., National Paints Factories Company S.A., Policolor S.A., Swarco Vicas S.A.) and their distributors to establish the re-sale price for their products and/or share outlets during 2004-2010. The investigations led by the Competition Council centered around the relations between producers and their own distribution networks.” Deals to set certain resell prices and areas seem to have been made by these companies. Consequently, Deutek S.A was fined 112.000 EUR, National Paints Factories Company S.A 23.000 EUR, Policolor S.A 340.000 EUR, and Swarco Vicas S.A 35.000 EUR while their distributors were fined 2,13 million EUR.