Anti-monopoly proceedings have been brought against PKN Orlen, one of the leading oil companies in Central and Eastern Europe and the biggest in Poland.
The proceedings were brought by the President of the Office for Competition and Customer Protection (UOKiK) following its recent analysis of the fuel market.
PKN Orlen's distributors — petrol stations in Krasnystaw and Lechow — are also under investigation.
UOKiK will check whether PKN Orlen's distribution agreements are compatible with Polish competition law, particularly any provisions giving it the right to fix resale retail fuel prices.
PKN Orlen and its distributors could be charged with distorting competition in the market by jointly fixing liquid fuel prices. If the allegations are upheld, UOKiK can impose fines of up to 10% of company's turnover in the previous year.
PKN Orlen is already the subject of three other anti-monopoly proceedings and, in December 2006, was ordered to pay a penalty of PLN 14 million (more than EUR 4 million) for abuse of its dominant position in the fuel market.
Under Polish competition law, proceedings should last for no more than five months.
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The original publication date for this article was 23/07/2008.