At the request of the Federal Competition Authority (BWB), the cartel court imposed a fine of 505,000 euros on the Graz-based company Zultner. The reason for this was antitrust violations in the form of price agreements, territorial division and non-competition clauses that were concluded with the industrial group Fronius as part of the distribution agreement, as the BWB announced on Thursday.
At the end of October, the BWB applied for a million-dollar fine against the technology supplier from Pettenbach, who is acting as a key witness in the proceedings; a decision from the court is still pending.
Since at least 2011, Zultner, Fronius and the Vorarlberg company Haberkorn are said to have repeatedly exchanged details with customers about offer conditions, including prices, when initiating orders and made cover offers.
Zultner, which also has a location in Wels, voluntarily made an acknowledgment and put the matter out of dispute. The decision is legally binding. At the end of January, the cartel court imposed a fine of 870,000 euros on Haberkorn.
