Posta Romana to appeal $32m antitrust fine

Romania’s national postal operator has said it will appeal a $32 million fine imposed by the country’s competition authorities. Posta Romana said on Monday that the accusation it was abusing its dominant position in the postal market was “unjustified”, and accused Romania’s Competition Council of failing to complete its investigation into the matter.

The case revolved around the state-owned company’s offer of lower tariffs to one of its customers, Bucharest-based publisher Infopress Group, which the authorities said represented preferential treatment, offering an unfair advantage over other mailers.

Posta Romana said it believed the ruling went against European Union rules on price discrimination and was therefore “not an abuse, but a normal competitive behaviour”.

The Bucharest-based company said in a statement that the lower tariff – a 37.5% discount – had been offered based on an annual volume of 36 million pieces, and that it had made similar offers to other mailers, with the offers being rejected.

Posta Romana also suggested that the Competition Council had not produced sufficient evidence to prove a violation of Romania’s competition legislation.

In a statement, Posta Romana said this week that it would appeal the Council’s decision in the administrative section of the Court of Appeals within 30 days.

The fine from the Competition Council represented 7.2% of Posta Romana’s 2009 turnover. The case stemmed from a series of investigations carried out by the Competition Council between 2005 and 2009, which were, prompted by complaints from seven mailers.

Bogdan Chiriţoiu, Chairman of the Competition Council, said this week: “State-owned companies are not exempt from the Competition Act. The rules are the same and must be respected by all market players, the penalties being applied without discrimination.”