The EU Commissioner for Competition, Neelie Kroes, endorsed Slovakia’s mechanisms for protecting competition at a news conference in Bratislava on Thursday, June 12. She said “The protection of economic competition in Slovakia is in good hands. The Slovak Antitrust Office has done a good job since it was established.” Kroes ascribed the sound economic competition policy in Slovakia to reforms implemented during the previous government’s term of office. The reforms significantly bolstered the quality of competition in Slovakia. The Slovak Antitrust Office issued 108 verdicts last year and imposed fines of over Sk1.4 billion. The office examines mergers, potential misuse of dominant market position and agreements which could restrict competition. Among its significant moves were its decisions to ban mergers between retail chains Tesco and Carrefour Slovensko and between Bratislava and Vienna airports. Slovak Telekom was the target of two of the highest fines issued by the office, of Sk885 million in 2006 and Sk525 million in 2007, for misusing its dominant market position. With regard to agreements restricting competition, the office imposed fines of more than Sk1.3 billion in 2006 on six construction companies operating a price cartel. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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