The AMCU Fined Electricity Suppliers 110 Million Hryvnia
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine fined De Trading LLC and Trade Electric Company LLC a total of 110 million hryvnias. The AMCU found that the companies had coordinated their actions during five electricity procurement auctions. The expected value of these procurements exceeded 1.5 billion hryvnias.
The decision to impose the fine was adopted by the AMCU’s Temporary Administrative Board on September 8. According to the committee, “De Trading” and “Trading Electric Company” participated in five tenders for the supply of electricity and coordinated their conduct during those tenders.
The estimated value of these procurements was over 1.5 billion hryvnias. Each company must pay a fine for the violation. The total amount of sanctions in this case is 110 million hryvnias. This is the largest fine among the six decisions that the AMCU’s temporary administrative panel issued that day regarding collusion in tenders and auctions.
In total, fines totaling more than 133 million hryvnias were imposed
On September 8, the AMCU considered six cases at once related to violations during tenders and auctions. The total amount of fines under all these decisions exceeded 133 million hryvnias. In addition to the case involving electricity suppliers, the committee fined several other pairs of companies.
Specifically, “Meganom Ukraine” and “Kabel-Svitlo-Tech” must pay a total of 6.76 million hryvnias. This pertains to 11 tenders for the procurement of cable products held between 2021 and 2024. Romants Logistic and Albat were also fined 1.26 million hryvnias. This case concerns tenders by Khmelnytskoblenergo, which purchased meters in 2022.
The AMCU also reviewed cases involving privatization
Three of the six cases reviewed by the panel concerned privatization auctions. One of them involved the sale of the alcohol production facility of the state-owned enterprise “Ukrspyrt” in Myshkovychi.
For collusion found at this auction, “Felicity Torg” and the “Myshkovychi Distillery” were fined a total of 4.21 million hryvnias. In other words, the AMCU’s decisions concerned not only procurements by state-owned or municipal enterprises but also auctions at which state property was sold.
Not all companies admitted to violations
Of the 12 companies involved in the six cases, six admitted to the violations. However, the companies that received the largest fine—110 million hryvnias—are not among those that admitted to the violations.
Thus, the AMCU’s decisions impose financial sanctions for collusive conduct by bidders, which, according to the committee’s findings, could have affected normal competition during procurements and auctions. In total, based on the six decisions issued on September 8, the AMCU imposed fines totaling over 133 million hryvnias. This was reported by the AMCU.
