Tele-Fonika Kabely CZ is a company based in Brno that manufactures and sells cables. Its managing director is František Procházka.[1]
Decision of the Office for the Protection of Competition
The Úřad pro ochranu hospodářské soutěže (ÚOHS) fined the company CZK 49.6 million. According to the office, the company agreed with Kablo Vrchlabí, NKT, PRAKAB Pražská Kabelovna, Precon and Prysmian Kabely on how to calculate part of the sale price of cables containing copper or aluminium, the so-called metal surcharge. According to ÚOHS, the coordination lasted more than ten years, between 2010 and 2022.[1] In setting the fines, the office took into account in particular the long duration of the anti-competitive conduct and the high sales values of the goods concerned. [1] Precon is in insolvency proceedings and has no assets, so it did not receive a fine either. [1] The office began dealing with the case at the request of Prakab, which used the leniency programme, provided information about the cartel and made an on-site inspection possible, and therefore received no fine. [1] According to the office, the companies jointly set a formula for calculating the metal price, checked the calculated values against one another and, after mutual consultation, adjusted them where necessary. [1]
The office imposed fines on four companies in a total amount of CZK 1.94 billion.[1][2] The decision is not final and the parties to the proceedings may appeal to the office's chairman Petr Mlsna.[1][2] The highest fines went to Prysmian Kabely and NKT, CZK 955 million and CZK 910 million, the highest penalties imposed on individual companies in the office's history. [1] The managing director of Tele-Fonika Kabely CZ declined to comment on the decision and said he could not say whether the company would file an appeal.[1]