The reason for the fine for Haberkorn was antitrust violations in the form of price fixing, territorial division and non-competition agreements that were concluded with the Upper Austrian industrial group Fronius, as the Federal Competition Authority (BWB) announced on Wednesday.
Third in the welding cartel alliance was the Graz-based company Zultner, which is accused of further anti-competitive contract agreements in the trade in welding technology products and against which a fine of 505,000 euros was requested. There is also no verdict here yet. Since at least 2011, the three companies are said to have repeatedly exchanged information about offer conditions, including prices, and made cover offers.
In October 2023, the BWB submitted applications for fines against the companies mentioned. Haberkorn voluntarily put the matter out of dispute.
The BWB had applied for a fine of three million euros against Fronius. Since the Upper Austrian company testified as a key witness, this is a reduced amount. The BWB confirmed that the company “cooperated continuously and comprehensively”. The three million euros are already a reduced value, because the penalty range for antitrust violations is up to 10 percent of the total sales achieved in the previous financial year. Fronius generated total sales of around 1 billion euros in 2022.
How much will Fronius be punished?
The antitrust proceedings are each individual proceedings with their own judgments. Neither the cartel court nor the BWB could or were allowed to inform OÖNachrichten upon request when further negotiations or judgments in the welding cartel case would take place or be expected. The most recent negotiation regarding Fronius took place at the beginning of March. The Senate determines how high the penalty actually is. This can reduce the fines requested by the BWB or even eliminate them completely.
Author
Ulrike Rubasch
Economics editor
Ulrike Rubasch
