PPC S.A. commitments proposed by the PPC S.A. to address competition concerns with regard to the supply of electricity to Aluminium of Greece S.A.

By its unanimous Decision, the Plenary of the Hellenic Competition Commission accepted, in the context of the investigation conducted in the market for the production and trade of electricity and in the market for retail supply of electricity following the complaint lodged by MYTILINEOS S.A. GROUP OF COMPANIES and ALUMINIUM OF GREECE S.A. against PPC S.A. for abuse of dominant position (infringement of Articles 2 of Law 3959/2011 and 102 TFEU), commitments proposed by the Public Power Corporation S.A. (PPC S.A.) so as to meet the preliminary competition concerns expressed by the HCC.

On the basis of the commitments proposed by PPC, PPC shall Continue to supply the complainants with electricity, revoke the declaration of discontinuation of power supply and specify the framework for their future cooperation so as to ensure effective competition in the market concerned. In particular, PPC S.A. undertook to:

1. Immediately withdraw its request to the power transmission operator (“ADMIE”) to no longer represent ALUMINΙUM’s electricity meters, revoke the declaration of discontinuation of power supply to ALUMINΙUM, and the termination of the commercial relationship for power supply with the latter and, subsequently, publicize the said retraction. Furthermore, PPC shall notify this revocation declaration to all the original recipients of the extrajudicial letters sent by it and produce immediately and, in any case, within ten (10) days from the notification of the present, proof of the above notification of revocation.

2. Continue to supply ALUMINΙUM on the current terms and conditions.

3. Conduct negotiations with ALUMINΙUM, on the basis of the pertinent legislation and regulatory framework (in particular, the Electricity Supply Code and its Basic Pricing Principles as well as Art. 4.3, par. C of L. 4336/2015) concerning the fees for the supply of electricity to ALUMINΙUM, to be completed, within 3 months from the acceptance of the commitments by the HCC, with the conclusion of a supply agreement between the parties.

4. Abstain from adopting, issuing, submitting or implementing similar decisions, statements, recommendations, announcements and generally taking any relevant measures until the conclusion of the negotiations or the resolution of the dispute in any other way, provided that ALUMINΙUM continues to pay the fees it currently pays,  without this payment implying acceptance of the positions of ALUMINΙUM regarding the pricing of electricity, a matter that will be the subject of the direct negotiation between the parties as provided above or of the settlement of the dispute in any other way. In case of non-compliance by PPC S.A., the HCC may impose fines in accordance with the Greek Competition Act.