Hungary Supreme Court rules to re-examine Nitrogénművek cartel case

In a statement, GVH emphasised that the court upheld GVH's original decision regarding the most serious infringements - price fixing and market sharing - and that Nitrogénművek Zrt.'s cartel will therefore be re-examined.

GVH continues to refuse to allow Nitrogénművek Zrt. to evade responsibility for the infringements and their consequences,

they wrote.

The statement recalled that the competition watchdog imposed a record fine of HUF 11 billion on the Nitrogénművek Group in October, on the grounds that the group, together with other market players, had illegally restricted competition in the domestic fertiliser market for years.

Half of the participants voluntarily admitted to the cartel, but Nitrogénművek Zrt. and one other player challenged the GVH's decision in court.

According to the competition authority, on 3 October 2002, the Budapest Metropolitan Court ruled on the appeal against the GVH's decision and partially upheld Nitrogénművek Zrt.'s claim.

As regards the most serious infringements - price fixing and market sharing - it confirmed the NCA's initial decision.

In order to examine the further circumstances of the case, it ordered the Competition Authority to repeat the procedure with regard to the amount of the fine imposed.

The statement also said that GVH "firmly stands by" the Competition Council's original decision and therefore applied to the Curia for a review. The Curia rejected GVH's request on the grounds that "the case does not raise a point of law requiring guidance from the Supreme Court".

This means that GVH will investigate the cartel of Nitrogénművek Zrt. in a new procedure in accordance with the decision of the Metropolitan Court,

the competition authority added.

The GVH stressed that cartels are the most serious form of restrictive agreements aimed at fixing prices and sharing markets and can cause significant social harm.