Communication
The aim of the protection of market competition is primarily to create benefits for consumers and equal conditions for all entrepreneurs on the market, who, acting in accordance with the existing rules and competing on the market with the quality, price and innovation of their products and services, contribute to the overall development of the economy.
High Administrative Court dismisses claims made by undertakings NTL and Kraš
The claims made by the undertakings NTL and Kraš against the decision of the Croatian Competition Agency have been dismissed by the High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia.
The court upheld the fines imposed by the CCA and stated that the facts of the case were correctly and completely established and that the substantive law was correctly applied to the established facts while the fine imposed was adequate.
The High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia dismissed the claims made by the undertakings Narodni trgovački lanac (NTL) and Kraš against the decision of the Croatian Competition Agency (CCA) of 3 December 2014 establishing that the above undertakings entered into a prohibited agreement on the basis of which they committed an infringement of competition rules in the time period from 1 October 2010 to 3 July 2014. The fines imposed by the CCA in the case concerned amounted to 2.582 Kuna.
“The Court finds that in the proceeding concerned the facts of the case were correctly and completely established, that the substantive law was correctly applied and that no breach of procedural rules was committed. In the assessment of the Court the defendant had taken all relevant facts and circumstances of the case into account when imposing the fine defined in the fine setting procedure, including the long duration of the infringement, and provided a detailed explanation of its decision, which this Court accepts”, says the High Administrative Court in the recital of its ruling.