The Plenary of the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) will convene on September 27th, 2021, to examine, based on the relevant Statement of Objections (SO), an ex officio investigation in the market of marble monuments in Mytilene (the capital of Lesvos Island in Greece), concerning alleged infringements of Articles 1 of Law 3959/2011 and 101 TFEU.
The ex officio investigation of HCC concerns alleged infringements of Articles 1 of Law 3959/2011 regarding concerted practices among competitors in the market of marble monuments and the Mytilene Charity Institutions in Mytilene. Particularly, from the analysis of the data, evaluated as individually as overall, turns out that fifteen (15) companies – manufacturers of marble monuments in Α΄ and B΄ cemeteries in Mytilene cooperate with the Mytilene Charity Institutions with the intention to fix prices and allocate markets (customers) for the manufacture of marble monuments.
The SO, following a detailed assessment of the alleged practices concerning the case file, proposes the following:
A. Ascertains the infringement of article 1 of Law No. 3959/2011 and article 1 of Law No. 703/21977 by the (15) companies – manufacturers of marble monuments and the Mytilene Charity Institutions in Mytilene, for the period from 2007 until 2021, depending on the duration of participation of each company in it.
Β. The imposition of a fine for each and for the duration of participation of each one of the involved companies in the infringement of articles 1 of Law No. 3959/2011 and 1 of Law No. 703/21977.
This case highlights the importance given by the HCC to the protection of competition, not also nationally but also locally, particularly in greek islands where the effects of anti- competitive practices may be more severe due to relative market isolation.
It should be noted that the Statement of Objections is not binding on the HCC, which will decide on the basis of the available facts as well as the arguments put forward by the parties.
