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10. 01. 12. - 15:00

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10. 01. 12. - 15:00

Austria's OMV Petrom and Rompetrol contest in court record antitrust fine

Romanian Times

Companies within the OMV Petrom Group will contest, in court the record fine handed down by the Romanian Competition Council, the group informed today (Tues).

Companies within the OMV Petrom Group were fined 503.8 million RON, which is 57 per cent of the total fines of 880 million RON, applied to a total number of six oil companies.

Petrom was fined 366.53 million RON, while OMV Petrom Marketing was fined 137.28 million RON.

Petrom said, in a press release, that the fine represents 2.62 per cent of its net turnover in 2010, while for OMV Petrom Marketing, the fine amounts to 3 per cent.

Petrom said they considered the sanctions as "unjustified" and they would contest them in court.

Another company fined by the Competition Council, Rompetrol Downstream, member of the Group Rompetrol, also announced its intention to contest the fine in court.

In 2007, Romanian businessman Dinu Patriciu obtained 1.6 billion dollars from Kazakhstan's KazMunayGas (KMG) for a 75 per cent stake in Rompetrol group, Romania's second largest oil company. In June last year, Patriciu sold his remaining 25 per cent stake to KMG for an undisclosed amount.

The Rompetrol Group operates in 13 countries, employing over 8,000 people. Its main assets are located in Romania, France and Southeastern Europe.

Romania's Competition Council announced today (Tues) it had fined six oil companies for agreeing to withdraw, all together, a retail product, in the period of 2007 to 2008, with an EU-wide record sum of 204 million Euros (880 million RON).

The Competition Council's President Bogdan Chiritoiu announced today that each company was fined 3 per cent of its turnover. He said that OMV Petrom was fined a "little over 3 per cent" because it was the initiator of the agreement.

Total fines add up to 204 million Euros (880 million RON), for the six companies: OMV Petrom Marketing, OMV Petrom, Rompetrol Downstream, ENI România, MOL Romania Petroleum Products and Lukoil România.

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