Robert Gago is Head of the Competition Law Practice at the Greenberg Traurig Warsaw Office. He advises clients in the field of competition and consumer protection law and economic regulation. His experience includes representation in the administrative anti-trust proceedings conducted by competition enforcement agencies. Robert advises on competition law aspects of M&A projects and represents in the merger proceedings before the Polish Competition Authority as well as in procedures before the European Commission. He also represents undertakings in court proceedings regarding appeals from the authorities’ decisions. Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig, he was head of the competition law practice at the Hogan Lovells Warsaw Office for 17 years.
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On February 25, 2019 the President of the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (“OCCP”) issued a conditional decision (“Decision”) clearing the concentration consisting in the acquisition by Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (“Air Products”) of ACP Europe S.A. and Eurocylinder NV (...)
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New enforcement tools and new two-stage merger review – Poland approves far reaching amendments to competition law* On 10 June 2014 the President signed new act introducing changes to Poland’s competition law regime. The new regime, which will be implemented by amendments to the Polish Act on (...)
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The OCCP decision On 23 November 2011, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection («the OCCP») fined four mobile telecom operators (Polkomtel, PTK Centertel, PTC, and P4) for the exchange of information on the assessment of a commercial offer prepared by Info-TV-FM (...)
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Background On 5th September 2011, the President of the Office for Competition and Consumers Protection (the «OCCP«) issued an administrative decision approving the acquisition of Aster by UPC Polska («UPC«). As a result of the merger UPC will achieve a substantial market position in the area of (...)
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On 26 April 2011, the President of the Office for Competition and Consumers Protection (the «OCCP» or the «Office») issued a decision in which it found that Scotts Poland sp. z o.o. (the «Scotts» or the «Company»), a subsidiary of Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, applied a resale price maintenance clause in (...)
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An inspection of Polkomtel S.A’s ("Polkomtel" or the "Company") premises took place on 2 December 2009 as part of a number of simulataneous dawn raids carried out by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (the "OCCP") as part of its investigation into mobile (...)
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Polska Grupa Energetyczna S. A. ("PGE") and Energa S. A. ("Energa") are state owned companies producing, distributing and trading electric energy. In September 2010, PGE concluded an agreement with the Ministry of Treasury concerning the purchase of 84,19% of Energa’s shares. On 20 October 2010, (...)
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Background An unannounced inspection combined with a search was carried out at the business premises of Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (hereinafter, Era or the Company) by the President of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (hereinafter, the OCCP) in the course of proceedings (...)
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Background The market for the wholesale of paints in Poland has been subject to special scrutiny by the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (the OCCP). The first case concerning the illegal collusion between the paint producer (Polifarb Cieszyn) and its distributors was examined in (...)
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Background - the OCCP decision On 29 December 2006, the President of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (”OCCP”) issued an administrative decision finding that the Polish subsidiary of Lesaffre (French food ingredients yeast and biotechnology company and worldwide leader in the (...)
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Decision On 15 December 2009, the President of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (the ”OCCP”) fined Knott Sp. z.o.o. (“Knott”) and its ten distributors for vertical price collusion with respect to trailer accessories (such as axles, overrun couplings, jockey wheels, brakes and (...)
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The Polish Appeal Court has quashed a Competition Court decision on procedural grounds pointing out that joint buying groups require a more in-depth competition analysis even in cases of resale price maintenance. On 10th November 2009, the Appeal Court issued a long awaited judgment concerning (...)
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On 24 February 2009, a new Regulation on the Polish leniency programme (Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 26 January 2009 concerning the mode of proceeding in cases of enterprises’ applications to the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection for immunity from or (...)
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Factual background: The claimant brought an action against the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture for payment in relation to the agreement on grant of financial aid for the claimant in respect of a project relating to periodic suspension of activities concerning (...)
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On 7 January 2009, the Polish Supreme Court issued a long awaited judgement concerning an “English clause“ in an agreement between pay TV operator (Canal +) and a Polish football association, Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej ("the PFA"), which was assessed by the President of the Office of Competition (...)
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Factual background: The plaintiff brought an action against M.L. to recover unduly received financial aid in relation to SAPARD Programme. According to the agreement between the Agency and the defendant, the Agency undertook to refund part of the costs incurred in order to complete the (...)
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On 12 November 2008, the Polish Court for Competition and Consumer Protection (“the Court”) overturned the decision of the President of the Office for Competition and Consumers’ Protection (the “OCCP” or the “Office”) concerning interchange fees. The court stated that the participation of 20 Polish (...)
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On 16 October 2008, the Polish Supreme Court issued a decision clearly defining the concept of abuse of a dominant position by imposing unfair contractual conditions. The main legal points concerned the ability to act independently as an element of the definition of a dominant position. The (...)
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On 7 July 2008, the President of the Office for Competition and Consumers’ Protection (‘the OCCP’ or “the Office’) confirmed that Xella Polska Sp. z o.o., a part of the Franz Haniel & Cie Gmbh capital group (“Xella Polska") and its 10 distributors had infringed the competition law rules by (...)
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Factual background On 7 April 2008, the President of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection («OCCP») found Castorama Polska Sp. z o.o. («Castorama») and ICI Polska Sp. z o.o. («ICI») guilty of a concerted practice regarding the price fixing of paints and varnishes. The joint amount of (...)
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On 31 December 2007, the Polish President of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (“the OCCP”) fined both PKN Orlen S.A (“Orlen”) and Grupa Lotos S.A. (“Lotos”), two leading Polish oil and petrochemical companies, for a concerted practice regarding the discontinuation of the manufacture (...)
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On 25 October 2007, the Polish President of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (“OCCP") fined TP Emitel, a subsidiary of the Telekomunikacja Polska (part of the France Telecom group) for price discrimination against public broadcasters. The amount of the fine reached almost 5 (...)
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On 14 June 2007, the Polish President of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (“OCCP") issued a decision concerning alleged price fixing and market sharing of medicines containing human recombined erythropoietin (EPO). The OCCP had decided that agreements between Johnson & (...)
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On 16 February 2007, the Polish Parliament passed a new Act on Competition and Consumer Protection, which introduces some changes to current Polish competition law. The new Act introduces the following principal changes: a) the jurisdictional turnover thresholds for notifying concentrations (...)
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The Polish Competition Court confirms the NCA’s decision finding that an "English clause" in an agreement between a pay-TV operator and a football association restricted competition, but halves a 440 000 PLN (110 000 EUR ) fine on the football association by upholding a 7.37 million PLN (1.84 (...)
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The Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (“OCCP”) has imposed record fines of PLN 110 million (€ 28,300,000 ) on Polifarb Cieszyn-Wroclaw (“Polifarb”) and seven chains of DIY supermarkets for breaching competition law. The OCCP found that these parties had jointly fixed resale prices. In (...)
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President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (the “OCCP”) imposed by way of decision on March 28, 2006 (n° DDI2-423-2/925/00/BC) a fine on Telekomunikacja Polska S.A. (“TP S.A.”, the “Company”) of PLN 5,7 million (nearly € 1,5 million), which is equivalent to € 10,000 per each day of (...)
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Background The Polish Competition and Consumers’ Protection Court (“Sad Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów”) on September 5, 2005 issued a decision on the appeal lodged by Johnson & Johnson Poland and Hurtofarm against the decision of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer (...)
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