The Competition Authority accuses five companies of forming a cartel in railway maintenance, and two of them have already been convicted
In September 2018, the Competition Authority issued a statement of objections to the groups Mota-Engil, Comsa, Somague, Teixeira Duarte and Vossloh, all companies involved in railway maintenance, due to having formed a cartel in tenders launched by Infraestruturas de Portugal in 2014 and 2015.
The companies mentioned in the statement of objections were Fergrupo Construções e Técnicas Ferroviárias, S.A, Frutifer Indústrias Ferroviárias, S.A, Mota-Engil Engenharia e Construção, S.A, Neopul Sociedade de Estudos e Construções, S.A and Somafel Engenharia e Obras Ferroviárias, S.A. Apart from these companies, members of the boards of directors and management were also targeted.
The accusation is based on the manipulation of bids submitted to tenders for the provisions of maintenance services for national rail equipment. The five companies agreed to submit bids above the tender base price, so that Infraestruturas de Portugal would have to pay a higher amount than it had intended. Apart from this tender, they also manipulated another, in which they distributed the tender lots and alters the results thereof.
The Competition Authority commenced proceedings in October 2016 for examining a complaint, and later carried out search and seizure procedures at the facilities of companies targeted by the process.
The Competition Act forbids cartels, which it defines as corresponding agreements between companies restricting competition on the national market, in full or in part, and which, as a result, cause consumers harm, as they end up paying higher prices.
In December 2018, the first decision was handed down in these proceedings, convicting not only the company, but also the General Manager for Production. The first company to be sentenced by the Competition Authority was Sacyr Neopul, ordered to pay a fine of 365,400 euros.
In April 2019, Mota-Engil was convicted, along with two of its Managers, to pay fines of 906,485.58 euros, also for taking part in a cartel.
In June this year, the Competition Authority sentenced Frutifer, along with two of its directors, to pay fines of 300,000 euros.
To date, there have been no further convictions and the investigations are continuing in respect of the two companies and the two members of the board of directors and management who have not yet been convicted.
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