• The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection initiated proceedings regarding bid rigging.
• Two entrepreneurs could have compromised the results of procedures for the award of road repair contracts.

UOKiK initiated proceedings against two entities dealing with road construction and repair, namely Star Budowa from Chybice (the Świętokrzyskie Province) and Aglet from Warsaw. The Office suspects that these entrepreneurs influenced the result of nearly 10 procedures for the award of road repairs contracts, organized by municipalities from the Świętokrzyskie Province. The value of contracts ranged from several dozen to several hundred thousand złotys

We searched the headquarters of both companies and obtained evidence showing that these two entities might have conspired to win contracts. They could have applied an unlawful mechanism for submitting and retracting bids. If their offers happened to be the two most advantageous one, then the winner would refrain from signing the contract. We suspect it was a deliberate action making buyers choose a higher bid. The strategy of entrepreneurs was different if their proposal did not take subsequent places by price. In such cases, they did not resign from signing the contract, provided the missing documents and performed the contract, says the President of UOKiK, Marek Niechciał.

Do you suspect bid rigging? Let UOKiK know

There is a fine of up to 10% of company’s turnover for using competition restricting practices. We would like to remind you about our programme to obtain information from anonymous whistle-blowers, such as former and current employees of companies violating law. If you know anything about practices restricting competition, please report them to UOKiK. Contact us at 22 55 60 500 or at the following e-mail address: sygnalista@uokik.gov.pl. All data on the whistle-blower programme can be found at https://konkurencja.uokik.gov.pl/.

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 430
E-mail: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL