• The President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny, has launched an investigation procedure regarding a possible competition-restricting agreement.
• UOKiK employees searched the offices of the Electrolux Poland company as well as of owners of the stores as follows: RTV Euro AGD, Media Markt and Media Expert.
• The suspicions concern prohibited price fixing for household appliances.

UOKiK obtained the information indicating a possibility of concluding anti-competitive agreement by Electrolux Poland with distributors of its products running large stores with electronic equipment and household appliances, among other things. The suspicions concern the prohibited fixing of prices for Electrolux and AEG brand products, such as vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, dishwashers, ovens, irons, coffee machines and kettles. As a result of the suspected activities, consumers may have been deprived of a capacity to buy those devices at lower prices, both in traditional stores and online.

– As soon as we were informed of a possible violation of law, I instigated the preliminary investigation during which, after obtaining the court approval, we conducted searches in the offices of Electrolux Poland and owners of stores such as: RTV Euro AGD, Media Markt and Media Expert. We are currently analysing the evidence collected - says the President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny.

The searches assisted by the Police were conducted in the offices of Electrolux Poland, Euro-Net (owner of Euro RTV AGD stores), Media Saturn Holding Polska, Media Saturn Online and five limited liability partnerships from one capital group (owners of Media Markt online and traditional stores) as well as Terg (Media Expert stores).

The investigation procedure 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 concluding the collusion agreement, in turn, face a fine of up to PLN 2 million.

This is not the first intervention by the President of UOKiK regarding the collusion arrangement among manufacturers of white goods or brown goods with large distributors of those products. Recently, the decision on Jura Poland company as well as owners of stores such as: RTV Euro AGD, Media Markt and Media Expert has been issued. For more than 10 years, entrepreneurs have illegally fixed prices for Jura coffee machines. The President of UOKiK imposed more than PLN 66 million fine on them. In addition, a person responsible for the prohibited agreement was fined with almost PLN 250 thousand.

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 collusion 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. UOKiK staff will answer any questions, including anonymous questions, about the leniency scheme at the phone line set up specifically for that purpose, available by calling the following number: 22 55 60 555.

We also remind you that we operate a programme 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 complete anonymity, including from UOKiK itself.