• UOKiK employees have searched the offices of ABB technological company and its five distributors.
• The entrepreneurs may have concluded competition-restricting agreements.
• The President of UOKiK has instigated a preliminary investigation in the case.

ABB Polska is a member of an international technological consortium. The entrepreneur deals with the sales of electricity products and technologies, robots, robotted systems, electric engines, electric power generators as well as systems and services designed for optimisation of production in industrial processes. UOKiK has been receiving some signals that ABB Polska, together with its distributors, may have concluded a division agreement consisting in the allocation to individual partners of clients and projects made for the benefit of end clients. Additionally, the entrepreneurs may have fixed prices and exchange information that might have been of some importance for competitors. The arrangements may have also pertained to public tenders.

– We suspect that ABB Polska together with its distributors may have made some arrangements on market division, price division and exchanging key information. Therefore, I have instigated preliminary investigation in the case as part of which we have conducted searches. They were carried out upon a consent of the court and assisted by the Police in ABB Polska offices and at five distributors of this entrepreneur. We are currently reviewing the collected evidence – says Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK.

The preliminary investigation is conducted in rem and not against specific businesses. If the evidence collected confirms the suspicions, the President of UOKiK will initiate antitrust proceedings and bring charges against individual entities. An enterprise involved in a competition-restricting agreement faces a fine of up to 10% of its turnover. The managers responsible for entering into the price-fixing arrangement face a fine of up to PLN 2 million.

Severe sanctions can be avoided by taking advantage of the leniency scheme. It offers businesses involved in an illegal agreement and managers responsible for entering into a price-fixing arrangement an opportunity to reduce a sanction or, in some cases, avoid it altogether. It is intended for those who agree to cooperate with the President of UOKiK as a “crown witness” and provide evidence or information regarding the existence of a prohibited agreement. We encourage the parties interested in the leniency scheme to contact UOKiK at a dedicated phone number 22 55 60 555. UOKiK staff will answer any questions about the leniency program, including anonymous ones.

We would also like to remind you that we operate a program to obtain information from anonymous whistleblowers. Do you wish to inform UOKiK about competition restricting practices? Visit https://uokik.whiblo.pl/ or scan the QR code below and use the simple form. The system we use guarantees full anonymity, including from UOKiK.