The Romanian Competition Council has expanded its investigation into the wood market in Romania on other 35 companies operating on this market. Thus, 94 companies are currently investigated, including Holzindustrie Schweighofer, Kronospan Romania, Egger Romania, Alredia.
The wood market investigation was opened by the competition authority in 2016 and envisages possible agreements for sharing the market/supply sources as well as awarding the wood lots (volume of timber to be sold) at a minimum price at the auctions organized by Romsilva through the Forestry Directorates.
"During the investigation, we have obtained new clues suggesting the involvement of other companies in the sector in possible anti-competitive agreements, thus we have to look very carefully at the public auctions in this sector," said Mr. Bogdan Chiriţoiu, President of the Competition Council.
At the end of last year, the Competition Council sanctioned Forestar SA, Nico Paul SRL and Saniral SRL with fines totaling 2,315,077 lei (about Euro 497,866) for rigging the bids conducted by Romsilva through the Neamt Forestry Department for the exploitation of the shaped wood.
In 2017, the competition authority also finalized a sector inquiry on the primary wood market and elaborated a number of proposals and recommendations for improving competition in this sector. The proposals were taken into consideration and included in the sector regulations.
