CPC: The Higher Administrative Court has confirmed a decision that establishes that large wholesalers have concluded a banned agreement

The Higher Administrative Court upheld the decision of the Committee for Protection of Competition (CPC), which found that two major wholesalers-AD « Dr. Panovski » and « Farm Trade » DOOEL-Skopje, have concluded a banned contract-Cartel in the public procurement procedure, insulin Today from the CPC.

– It is a public procurement that was announced in 2016 by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Macedonia, with the two wholesalers, contrary to the Law on Protection of Competition, concluded a banned contract – a cartel, which consciously and intending to acquire illegal property benefits to the state, replaced the market.

The Committee for Protection of Competition points out that « when detecting and documenting this cartel has taken into account the domestic legislation and the case law of the European Union ».

-For participation in the cartel in question, the Commission has imposed misdemeanor sanctions on AD « Dr. Panovski » in the amount of EUR 1,061,000 and the « Farm Trade » DOOEL 721,000 euros-added by the CPC.

As they point out, the amount of the said fine is correlated with the damage inflicted on the state budget.

– The decision of the Committee for Protection of Competition has been confirmed by the Administrative Court and the Higher Administrative Court and it is final and executive and the enterprises have to pay the fine within the legally established deadline – underlined by the CPC.

The Commission for Protection of Competition announces that « the detected cartel will submit an appropriate notice to the Financial Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, for further action by them in appropriate criminal proceedings ».