In particular, the Plenary Session of the Competition Commission, with the no. 835/2023 Decision of, following the relevant Report of the Rapporteur Mr. Fotis, regarding the violation of the provisions of article 39 par. 5 of Law 3959/2011, by an oil company as well as the natural person IB, during the conduct of a surprise on-site inspection, the which was ordered as part of an ex officio investigation by the General Directorate of Competition in the refining, wholesale and retail stages of the gasoline and diesel market, unanimously found that the company and the natural person violated the aforementioned article and, after taking into account the particular seriousness of the due to its conduct, its disrespect and its impact on the ongoing investigation, imposed a fine of nine million and two hundred thousand (9,200,000.00) euros on the company and fifty thousand (50,000.00) euros on the natural person.
As pointed out in the reasoning of the decision, during the on-site inspection the company and the natural person did not actively cooperate, but by their actions and omissions caused obstacles, delays and difficulties during the inspection, and therefore, did not ensure the integrity – availability of the company’s professional files and the effectiveness of the control. On the contrary, with their behavior they obstructed the control and violated the obligation of active and continuous cooperation with the authorized employees of the General Directorate of Competition. In this way, they made control ineffective.
Following these, the EA decided the following:
A. Finds, according to the rationale of the Decision, unanimously, that the company violated article 39 par. 5 of Law 3959/2011.
B. Imposes, according to the rationale of the Decision, unanimously, a fine of nine million two hundred thousand euros (9,200,000.00) on the company
C. Finds, according to the reasoning of the Decision, unanimously, that IB violated article 39 par. 5 of Law 3959/2011
D. Imposes, according to the rationale of the Decision, by a majority, a fine of fifty thousand euros (50,000.00) on IB
Motor Oil: Appeals to Justice
Motor Oil announces a legal appeal against the fine imposed by the Competition Commission. In its announcement, the company emphasizes that it fully respects the Commission’s institutional role but disagrees “absolutely with its decision considering that the previous leadership has made a mistake”.
In particular, in its announcement, the company states:
“The Competition Commission announced today the imposition of a fine against our Company citing obstruction of the ex officio audit it carried out at the offices of the Motor Oil Hellas Group of Companies in September 2021.
We fully respect the institutional role of the Commission, but we completely disagree with its decision, believing that the previous leadership has made a mistake.
Both the Members of the Board of Directors of the Company as well as its staff cooperated fully with the Authority and facilitated the audit carried out in full compliance with the obligations they have or were requested. This, after all, is also mentioned in the Commission’s texts.
During the audit, the staff of the Commission requested to visit and check the private premises of the managing director, which is not included in the premises of Motor Oil and its group companies (it is the premises of a third company that rents space in the same building as MOH ).
For this exaggeration, we consider that the decision of the Competition Commission is based on incorrect and unproven assumptions about alleged incidents that took place during their audit and, consequently, our Company will appeal to the Court”.
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