Eszter Ritter

On 6 February 2012 the Hungarian Supreme Court adopted a judgment in which the decision of the Hungarian Competition Office (“HCO”) and the earlier judgments of the Metropolitan Court and the Metropolitan Court of Appeal in a cartel matter relating to road construction works in Budapest were (...)

The Budapest Metropolitan Court of Appeal (the “Court of Appeal”) recently delivered a judgment that provides an insight into the Court of Appeal’s approach to a number of substantive law and procedural law issues concerning cartel matters. The case before the Court of Appeal concerned the (...)

Background After the decision in the “Egg cartel” case, the Hungarian Constitutional Court was requested to rule about the compliance of Section 78 (6) and (7) of the Hungarian Competition Act (“HCA”) with the Hungarian Constitution. According to Section 78 (6) and (7) HCA, if the social (...)

In 2006, the Hungarian Competition Office (“HCO”) fined the Hungarian State Railways (“MÁV”) for an abuse of dominant position under Article 82 EC (now Article 102 TFEU) and Section 21 of the Hungarian competition act. In decision no. Vj-22/2005/145, the HCO ruled that following the (...)

In December 2009, Bonafarm Zrt. (Bonafarm), and Herz Szalámigyár Zrt.(Herz) concluded asset transfer agreements for the transfer of all the assets of Herz, including trademarks, used for the production of salami. Herz, originally founded in 1888, was the second largest salami manufacturer in (...)

On 18 February 2010 the Hungarian Competition Office (“HCO”) cleared the acquisition of a 0.01 per cent stake in Duna-Dráva Cement Kft. (“DDC”) by Schwenk Zement KG (“Schwenk”) from HeidelbergCement Central Europe East Holding BV (“Heidelberg”). DDC is a cement factory owned by Heidelberg and (...)

On 24 September 2009 in proceedings n° Vj-18/2008 launched against 23 Hungarian banks, as well as the international card companies MasterCard and Visa, the Hungarian Competition Office (the "HCO") fined seven Hungarian banks for setting the same domestic interchange fee for all banks and both (...)

On 21 August 2008 CIL Buda Square Ingatlanhasznosító Kft. (“CIL”), a Hungarian property management company owned by CIB Bank Zrt. (“CIB Bank”) acquired from IMMOCAMP S.A. and Jason Invest and Trade LLC 100 per cent of the business quotas in Óbudai Dunapart Irodaház Központ Kft. (“Dunapart”). (...)

Magyar Előfizetői Vagyonkezelő Kft. ("MEV"), a Hungarian JV owned by the Ringier group (including the Hungarian daily Népszabadság) and the Sanoma group, acquired from F-Log AG 51 per cent of the shares of MédiaLog Zrt. ("MédiaLog"), which is one of the two major magazine distributors in (...)

The Hungarian Competition Office (HCO) applied European law in proceedings against a leading printer manufacturer that had been launched due to its alleged abuse of its dominant position on the market of printer cartridges. The alleged abuse concerned the wording of the warranty letter of the (...)

Upon the request of Maspex z.o.o. ("Maspex"), the Hungarian Competition Office ("HCO") initiated an investigation in order to assess whether the transfer of trademarks owned by Apenta Ásványvíz és Üdítõ Kft. ("Apenta"), a mineral water and soft drink producer, to Maspex would qualify as (...)

The Hungarian Competiton Office (HCO) launched proceedings against fourteen road construction companies (Alterra Kft., Betonút Rt., Debreceni Mély- és Útépítõ Rt., EGÚT Egri Útépítõ Rt., Hídépítõ Rt., HÓDÚT Rt., Hoffmann Rt., MÁV Hídépítõ Rt., MOTA-Engil Rt., Strabag Rt., Swietelsky Kft., (...)

In 2004, the Hungarian Competition Office (HCO) launched proceedings against SAP Hungary Kft. (SAP), International Business Machines Magyarország Kft. (IBM), International System House Kft. (ISH), Synergon Informatikai Rendszereket Tervező és Kivitelező Rt. (Synergon) and ORACLE Hungary Kft. (...)

In 2003, a member of the Ringier group, B.V. Tabora (Tabora), which held 49.97 per cent of the shares in Népszabadság, one of the largest daily newspapers in Hungary, acquired through share swap another 17.68 per cent stake in Népszabadság, thus holding a total of 67.65 per cent. Tabora (...)

In 2003, AB-Aegon Általános Biztosító Rt, Allianz Hungária Biztosító Rt., Generali-Providencia Biztosító Rt., OTP-Garancia Biztosító Rt. and Uniqa Biztosító Rt. filed a request for negative clearance or alternatively, a request for an individual exemption with the Hungarian Competition Office (...)

In 2002, the Hungarian Competition Office (HCO) launched proceedings against eight road construction companies including Strabag Rt. (Strabag), EGÚT Egri Útépítő Kft. (EGUT), Hídépítő Rt. (Hídépítő) and Ring Kkt. (Ring), a JV of Strabag and Hídépítő, on the grounds that they were suspected of (...)

The Hungarian Competition Office (HCO) launched an investigation against Magyar Távközlési Rt. (Matáv) in order to find out whether Matáv had abused its dominant postition between February and July 2002 by determining retail prices in relation to the interconnection fees in the wholesale (...)

Baucont Rt., Hérosz Rt., Kipszer Rt. and Közév Rt., all active in the construction industry, notified the HCO of the establishment of Corvin-Szigony Rt. ("Corvin-Szigony"), a company limited by shares. Pursuant to its Deed of Foundation, Corvin-Szigony was established with the minimum amount (...)

The Hungarian Competition Office (HCO) launched proceedings against three cement producers : Holcim Hungária Rt. (Holcim), Duna-Dráva Cement Kft. (DDC) and BÉCEM Cement és Mészipari Rt. (BÉCEM) as well as their association : the Hungarian Cement Association (HCA) because of a suspected illegal (...)

In 2002 the Hungarian Competition Office (HCO) launched an investigation against National Motorway Ltd. (NA) in order to determine whether NA was in a dominant position in the motorway construction market, and if yes, whether it abused its dominant position when in 2000, it failed to respond (...)

The Hungarian Competition Office (HCO) launched proceedings against Wrigley Hungária Kft. (Wrigley) in order to determine whether Wrigley abused its dominant position on the sugar free chewing gum market when it changed its distribution system and no longer provided special supply conditions (...)

The Hungarian Competition Office (HCO) launched an investigation at the request of Hungarian Oil & Gas Company PlcMOL) to assess whether MOL’s acquisition of de facto control over Tiszai Vegyi Kombinát Rt.TVK) is permissible. MOL, a company listed in the Budapest Stock Exchange, is (...)

In 2001, the HCO launched proceedings against Holcim Hungária Cementipari Rt. (Holcim Hungária), Duna-Dráva Cement Kft. (Duna-Dráva), BÉCEM Kőlisztgyártó, Vagyonkezelő és Szolgáltató Cement- és Mészipari Rt. (BÉCEM), Breitenburger Auslandsbeteiligungs GmbH (Breitenburger), Heidelberger Zement (...)

The Hungarian Competition Office (HCO) launched an investigation against UPC Magyarország Kft. (UPC), a major cable television service provider, in order to determine whether UPC abused its dominant position (a) when in two Hungarian towns, it unilaterally introduced new programme packages (...)

The Hungarian Competition Office (“HCO”) initiated an investigation following the application of Hungarian Oil & Gas Company Plc (“MOL”) in which MOL requested the approval for MOL’s acquisition of joint control with Slovintegra a.s. (“Slovintegra“) and Slovbena a.s. (“Slovbena”) (...)

In 1999, Csemege Julius Meinl Rt. (Csemege), a company owning a grocery retail chain, filed a notification with the Hungarian Competition Office (HCO) in which it requested the HCO to permit its acquisition of control in ALFA Kereskedelmi Kft. (ALFA), another grocery retailer. The acquisition (...)

The HCO initiated an investigation at the request of Renault S.A. ("Renault") for approval of the concentration of Renault and Nissan Motor Co. ("Nissan"). Renault and Nissan entered into an agreement pursuant to which Renault acquired a shareholding representing 36.8 per cent of the share (...)

In 1998, the Hungarian Competition Office (HCO) initiated an investigation against Henkel Magyarország Kft. (Henkel) in order to determine whether supply agreements for glues concluded between Henkel and various retailers in Hungary comply with the prohibition of anti-competitive agreements. (...)