Jan Převrátil

On 24 June 2009, the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition entered into a settlement with RWE Transgas (“RWE”), the dominant Czech operator in the natural gas market, concerning RWE’s conduct towards its retail customers in late 2008 and in the first half of 2009. In September 2008, (...)

On 15 May 2009, the Czech Chamber of Deputies voted in favour of a bill “on significant market power and the abuse thereof”. According to the voted text, “where, due to the situation on the market, a supplier becomes dependent on the buyer with respect to the possibility to deliver its goods to (...)

After 11 November 2008, it appears that the managers of cartel members will have to add Prague to the growing list of “Airports to Avoid”. In fact, on that day, the Czech Chamber of Deputies adopted a new Criminal Code which, among other things, introduces the criminal offence of “breach of (...)

By its decision of 20 November 2008, the Czech Supreme Administrative Court confirmed the decision of the Regional Court of Brno and hence the decisions of the Office for the Protection of Competition by which Sazka, the dominant Czech operator of betting games and lotteries, was found guilty (...)

By a first-instance decision adopted on 16 July 2008, the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition fined Èeské Dráhy, the incumbent railway operator, CZK 270 million (approx. EUR 11 million) for an abuse of dominant position under the relevant Czech legislation. In its decision, the Office (...)

In May 2008, the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition circulated a draft amendment to the Czech Act on the Protection of Competition, requesting for comments by the different authorities involved and the interested public prior to the introduction of the bill in the Parliament. The (...)

On 18 February 2008, the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition announced via a press release that it terminated its investigation of the increase of fees collected by CCS, the principal issuer of fuel cards in the Czech Republic, from the merchants which operate its point-of-sale (...)

On 23 November 2007, the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition fined VAVRYS CZ, a minor outdoor clothing and equipment distributor, CZK 100.000 (approx. 3.700 €) for ignoring a request for information. Although the sum is insignificant in itself, the measure is somewhat revolutionary (...)

On 8 August 2007, the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition terminated the proceedings in the Tipsport case, initiated in 2006, without adopting a final verdict. The case concerned an agreement entered into by Tipsport, a major Czech betting company, and Ceskoslovensky Sport (CS (...)

By a judgment rendered on 10 July 2007, the Regional Court in Brno annulled the first-instance and appeal decisions rendered by the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition and its President in the Linde Technoplyn case. Unfortunately for the commentators, the verdict is based solely on (...)

Presumably on 9 May 2007 (see below), the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition published its first guidelines on the method of setting fines on its website. Whereas it has been known for some time that some kind of guidelines were used by the Office to calculate fines, the latter has (...)

On 9 February 2007, the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition (the «Office») rendered a decision in the gas insulated switchgears («GIS») cartel case, imposing fines of a total amount of CZK 979 million (€ 35 million approx.) on the manufacturers. The cartel, which has been investigated by (...)

By a judgment rendered on 31 January 2007, the Czech Supreme Administrative Court overruled an earlier judgment by the Regional Court in Brno and stated that the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition (the “Office”) has competence to investigate into and impose sanctions for infringements (...)

Regional Court in Brno (Krajský soud v Brno), 29 September, 2006, Agip, Aral, Benzina, Conoco Phillips, OMV and Shell v. UOHS, not yet published, rendered on appeal against the decision of the President of the Office for the Protection of Competition By a judgment of 29 September 2006, the (...)

By a judgement of 26 September 2006, the Regional Court in Brno confirmed the decisions adopted by the Office for the Protection of Competition and (on administrative appeal) by its President in which the dominant fixed telephony operator, Èeský Telecom (“ÈTc”), was found to have infringed article (...)

By a first-instance decision rendered on 10 August, 2006, the Office for the Protection of Competition (the “Office”) imposed a fine of CZK 370 million (EUR 13 million approx.) on RWE Transgas, the dominant supplier of natural gas to the retail distributors, for alleged abuses of its dominant (...)

In August 2006, the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition presented to the interested public a draft amendment to the Czech Act on the Protection of Competition. Apart from other less important issues, the draft provides specific rules on the treatment of documents obtained by the (...)

On 16 May, 2006, deciding on appeal lodged against a first-instance decision, the President of the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition has upheld the conclusion according to which CSAD Liberec (“CSAD”), the operator of the bus station in the Czech city of Liberec and of different bus (...)

The Regional Court in Brno has rejected the appeal against the decision of the Office for the Protection of Competition (the “Office”) in which the latter stated that a regulation on services and fees, adopted and published by the Czech Chamber of Chartered Engineers and Technicians of the (...)

On 14 April 2006, the President of the Office for the Protection of Competition confirmed a first-instance decision by which the Office had imposed a fine of CZK 300,000 (EUR 10,500 approx.) on the Czech Chamber of Pharmacists (Ceská lékárnická komora) for the adoption of several anticompetitive (...)

By a decision on appeal rendered on 17 March, 2006, the President of the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition has confirmed a first instance decision according to which Ceský Telecom, a.s. (“CTc”), the incumbent Czech telecommunications operator, had abused of its dominant position on (...)

By a decision on appeal rendered on 3 February, 2006, the President of the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition has annulled a first instance decision according to which ŠKODA AUTO a.s. (“Škoda”), a Czech car manufacturer belonging to the Volkswagen group, had allegedly abused of its (...)

In a decision rendered on 25 November, 2005, the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition concluded that CAS-SERVICE a.s. (“CAS”), the operator of the bus station in the Southern Moravian city of Znojmo, had not abused of its dominant position on the market of services offered to bus line (...)

The decision of the Ministry for Competition (the predecessor of the Czech NCA) in the Škoda Auto case, confirmed on constitutional complaint by the Constitutional Court in its judgement rendered on 29 May 1997, is one of the oldest and at the same time most controversial cases of application of (...)