• The President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny, initiated an investigation procedure in connection with the situation on the hard coal market.
• An extensive market investigation is being conducted with the support of the Trade Inspection Authority.
• Its purpose is to examine the rules for the distribution of this raw material and to check whether any practices restricting competition are being conducted in connection with its sale.

“The current situation on the hard coal market raises the question whether any illegal practices are being conducted on that market. For this reason, I have initiated an investigation procedure to examine the coal distribution system. In particular, we will take a closer look at the role of importers, distributors and intermediaries in the sale, including coal depot owners. We will analyse the market structure and relations between businesses, and whether there are any instances of illegal arrangements or abuse of dominant position on that market,” said Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

The verification of businesses operating coal depots will be conducted with the support of the Voivodeship Inspectorate of the Trade Inspection Authority and will cover the territory of the entire country. The President of UOKiK will also request entities mining and importing coal to present information, inter alia, regarding their customers and the methods used to sell produced or imported coal. The purpose of these actions is to examine the structure of the coal market, mechanisms of its distribution, relations between entities operating on that market, the scope of information exchange between them, and to examine the price determination method.

“The prices of products in a free market economy are determined directly by businesses as part of exercising the freedom to conduct business activity. The President of UOKiK may intervene only in strictly specified cases, e.g. if prices are the result of abuse of a dominant position by major players on the relevant market or an illegal arrangement between operators, i.e. a market allocation scheme or price fixing. In such cases, UOKiK still does not set the prices and can only have an indirect impact on them, i.e. by eliminating illegal practices and improving competition on the relevant market. In our investigation, we want to verify whether the said practices are being conducted on the coal market specifically,” said Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

The investigation procedure is conducted regarding a specific matter, rather than against specific entities. If the analysis indicates that practices restricting competition may have been conducted on the coal market, then the President of UOKiK may bring charges against specific businesses. The abuse of a dominant position or use of practices restricting competition carries a financial penalty in the amount of up to 10% of annual turnover.

We encourage anyone with knowledge regarding possible practices restricting competition on the coal market to contact UOKiK. UOKiK operates a programme to acquire information from anonymous whistleblowers. Visit https://konkurencja.uokik.gov.pl/sygnalista/ and use a simple form. The system we use guarantees full anonymity, which includes anonymity from UOKiK itself.

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 246
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