Anastasia Dritsa

On October 25th, 2019 the Hellenic Competition Commission (the “HCC”), announced the launch of a public consultation of its revised methodology and criteria for the prioritization of cases (the draft “Prioritization Notice”) in order to facilitate its implementation and improve compliance and (...)

The Hellenic Competition Commission’s (HCC’s) investigatory activity during 2019 was marked by the biggest Dawn Raid carried out to date by HCC’s officials in the banking sector. HCC officials carried out successive unannounced ex-officio investigations at the premises of a number of banks and (...)

According to the Digital Economy and Society Index 2019 (DESI 2019), Greece ranks 26th amongst EU countries in fast broadband coverage per household. In particular, only 66% of homes have access to fast internet of above 30 Mbps, far below the EU coverage of 83%, and less than 1% have access to (...)

EX OFFICIO INTERIM MEASURES MYTILINEOS S.A. VS ELMIN BAUXITES S.A. (HCC 690/2019) I. After a long period during which the HCC did not view favorably applications for interim measures, interim measures were imposed on 28.06.2019 ex officio by the HCC, in the context of a highprofile case (...)

Application of the EU P2B Regulation Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 (‘P2B Regulation’), issued on June 20th, 2019, refers to businesses dealing with online intermediation services and business whose websites are ranked by online search engines, and aims to ensure more transparent conditions in the (...)

MERGER CONTROL MYTILINEOS HOLDINGS S.A. - EP.AL.ME. S.A. HCC (682/2019) In November 2018, the “HCC, was called to clear the acquisition of 97.87% of the outstanding share capital of EP.AL.ME. S.A. (“EPALME”) by MYTILINEOS HOLDINGS S.A. (“MYTILINEOS”). With this acquisition, MYTILINEOS was (...)

In its much expected decision 582/2019, the Greek Supreme Administrative Court (Conseil d’ Etat), examined once more the issue of limitation periods for competition law violations and the notion of ‘reasonable time’ within which the Hellenic Competition Commission (‘HCC’) can bring cases against (...)

RAVAGO S.A. / DR. D. A. DELIS S.A. (HCC 681/2019) The HCC unanimously cleared in a Phase I procedure and pursuant to Article 8 paragraph 3 of Greek Competition Act (Law 3959/2011), a concentration notified on 25.01.2019, concerning the acquisition of sole control of “Dr. D.A. DELIS S.A.” by (...)

MERGER CONTROL-MEDIA SECTOR HCC cleared the acquisition of the joint control of Alpha Satellite TV SA, Alpha Radio SA and Alpha Kronos Radio SA by Motor Oil, Alpha Media and Dimitris Kontominas. In a Plenary Session, the HCC unanimously proceeded in February 2019 to the clearance of the (...)

American International Group, Inc. / AIG HELLAS S.A. (HCC 677/2019) A notable concentration, in the insurance industry involving the 100% stock acquisition of «AIG HELLAS S.A. » (hereinafter called the « AIG HELLAS ») by «AIG International Holdings GmbH» (hereinafter called the «AIG International» (...)

HCC / ELECTRIC CONTRACTORS’ ASSOCIATION OF ATTICA (SEHEA) HCC (675/2018) I. In its Decision No 675/2018, the HCC resolved that the Electric Contractors’ Association of Attica (SEHEA) had adopted provisions in its Articles of Association that provided for the application of a fixed electrical (...)

HCC/FIVE (5) CONTRACTOR UNDERTAKINGS HCC (674/18) I. The Greek contractor industry was again investigated and sanctioned by the HCC through its Decision No 674/2018 with a EUR 244,787.4 fine imposed on five (5) smaller contractors for their participation in a regional cartel consisting of (...)

HCC / SECTION OF ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION MARKET HCC (670/2018) I. HCC decided in Plenum, in a clear majority open vote, under the simplified settlement procedure of Article 25a of Law 3959/2011, in light of its formal Decision under No 628/2016 , that the Secondary Federation of Electricians (...)

Law 4529/2018 Actions for Damages from Antitrust Infringements Law 4529/2018 was published on March 23, 2018, incorporating into Greek Law Directive 2014/104/EU on private damages arising out of competition law infringements. Highlights of the law include specific rules on the disclosure of (...)

Interim action for retaliation measures against agricultural producers in Naxos (HCC 653/2017) After a long period of inaction in the area of interim measures, the HCC convened at the expiration of last year to deal with a possible 101 TFEU (and its Greek Competition Act equivalent) violation (...)

On 6 December 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union handed down its Judgment on the awaited Coty Germany v Akzente case. The case concerned whether a supplier of luxury cosmetics, operating a selective distribution system for its products, may validly prohibit its authorized (...)

Media: DIMERA/ EPSILON TV (HCC 652/2017) In November 2017, the HCC, in plenum, unanimously cleared the acquisition of sole control over ‘EPSILON TV’ (owned by RADIOTILEOPTIKI S.A.) by DIMERA Media Investments Ltd. The postmerger market shares of Dimera would not reach levels of dominance neither (...)

Amendment of prior Commitments by the incumbent natural gas supplier regarding e-auctioned natural gas quantities (HCC 651/2017) Once more, the commitments program of DEPA and its adjustments feature in the HCC’s annual list of decisions. This time, the HCC withdrew a provision in its (...)

Joint Venture for Dairy products: Clearance of the MEVGAL acquisition in Phase II (HCC 650/2017) DELTA FOODS S.A. and MEVGAL S.A. are two of the largest producers of dairy products in Greece. The acquisition of joint control over MEVGAL by DELTA and members of the Hatzakos family, was deemed a (...)

Clearance of Joint Venture in the greenhouse production of agricultural products: Thermokipia Thrakis (HCC 649/2017) Thrace Plastics Co S.A. (Thrace Plastics) and Elastron A.E.V.E. - Steel Products (Elastron) were two companies, each having a subsidiary active in the greenhouse production, (...)

HORIZONTAL AGREEMENTS HCC /17 CONTRACTORS’ COMPAGNIES HCC (647/2017) I. Horizontal agreements of market partitioning and bid-rigging for public tenders violating Articles 1 of Law 3959/2011 by seventeen (17) contractor companies and two (2) contractors’ associations (SATE and STEAT as successor (...)

On 10 May 2017, the DG Competition of the European Commission, issued its “Final report on the E-commerce Sector Inquiry”, largely confirming its detailed preliminary findings, published in September 2016. Several competition concerns are reiterated in the Report in relation to recommending (...)

Horizontal concertation between wholesalers of luxury cosmetics & the ‘vertical manifestation’ (HCC 646/2017) In a decision in plenum dated April 6th 2017, issued almost eleven years after the termination of the alleged violation, the HCC resolved that five wholesalers of luxury cosmetics (...)

Collusion between cosmetics retailers (HCC 636/2017 and 645/2017) The first decision issued by HCC under its new settlement procedure concerns a case which dates back to the second of two complaints lodged by NOTOS (wholesaler and retailer of cosmetics) in 2006 against a number of wholesale (...)

Bid-rigging in a local construction tender in Pella (HCC 644/2017) The HCC’s focus on bid-rigging in tenders for infrastructure works extended to a smaller tender of local interest which led again to the imposition of considerably smaller, yet still noteworthy, fines. In November 2010, in the (...)

Settlement of the bid-rigging cartel for high value tenders (HCC 642/2017) In August 2018, the HCC announced the imposition of hefty fines amounting to more than € 80 million on several construction groups, for collusive tendering in high value public infrastructure projects, following the (...)

Packed food products merger cleared in Phase I: CHIPITA/ NIKAS (HCC 638/2017) In this conglomerate concentration, Chipita S.A., producer and distributor of several snack brands (Bake Rolls, Chipita chips, 7Days, Molto a.o.), filed a concentration notification, in January 2017, for the (...)

Supermarket chains acquisition cleared with remedies: SKLAVENITIS/ MARINOPOULOS (HCC 637/2017) Picking up from where it left off in the on-going consolidation of the Greek super-market sector, the HCC was called, in January 2017, to clear the acquisition of control by Sklavenitis, a major (...)

METRO/VEROPOULOS (HCC 623/2016) and VASSILOPOULOS/KANAKIS (HCC 624/2016) The HCC continued its control of super-market takeovers with the clearance of the acquisitions of VEROPOULOS by METRO and KANAKIS by VASSILOPOULOS in early 2016. As a result of the former (January 2016), two competing (...)

VASSILAKIS acquisition of KIA and HYUNDAI distributors in Greece (HCC 632/2016) The VASSILAKIS Group includes a subsidiary which is the official authorized SEAT distributor in Greece and is also active in the wholesale and retail sale of passenger cars, spare parts and repair services under (...)

HCC accepts revised commitments by DEPA (HCC 631/2016) In 2012, as a result of ALUMINIUM’s complaint against DEPA, the incumbent natural gas supplier, the company offered commitments to the HCC in order to close the case. The commitments are continuously subject to review and update, reflecting (...)

Dismissal of allegations of excessive car parking prices in Macedonia Airport (HCC 630/2016) In April 2008, Cargo Service, lessee and operator of the parking lots in the Thessaloniki International Airport “Macedonia”, was accused by KEPKA (a consumer protection NGO) of abusing its dominant (...)

RAVAGO acquisitions of DELTA CHEMICALS and PENTAPLAST (HCC 629/2016 and 634/2016) RAVAGO is a Luxembourg-based company active in the market for the distribution of chemical and plastic products. Its Greek clientele is active in the car, electric devices, wire, cable, and packaging industries. (...)

Settlement procedure introduced (HCC 628/2016) In July 2016, the HCC announced the details of its newly introduced settlement procedure which shall be available to parties involved in horizontal cartel cases. Upon admitting involvement and waiving certain procedural rights, parties settling (...)

After the adoption of a Leniency Programme (2011) and a Commitments Procedure (2014), the recent introduction by the Hellenic Competition Commission of a Settlement procedure consummates the procedural modernisation of Greek competition law. The successful applicant is rewarded with a 15% fine (...)

Acquisition of Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) by COSCO (HCC 627/2016) In 2002, the publicly listed PPA (‘OLP’) entered into a Concession Agreement with the Greek State, gaining the exclusive right until 2052 to exploit all buildings, establishments, and other infrastructure of Greece’s most (...)

Acquisition of 14 regional airports by FRAPORT (HCC 626/2016) On April 7 2016, the HCC announced the clearance of the Concession Agreements entered into by the FRAPORT Consortium and the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) for the upgrade, maintenance, management, and operation of (...)

Recalculation of GERMANOS’ fine (HCC 625/2016) In late 2014, the HCC published its 580/VII/2013 decision, finding that GERMANOS, a Deutsche Telekom subsidiary which runs a franchise of electronic goods stores, was applying a variety of anticompetitive practices to its franchise network, (...)

Vertical restraints in NEOSET’s franchise network for furniture (HCC 622/2015) NEOSET was an established manufacturer and distributor of furniture. Following a pecuniary dispute with DIAMESO (a franchisee), and the termination of their agreement in 2008, DIAMESO claimed damages from alleged RPM (...)

Commitments by the Public Power Corporation (DEI) addressing abuse of dominance concerns with regard to the supply of electricity to Aluminium of Greece (HCC 621/2015) A long-standing and episodic standoff between DEI (incumbent producer and supplier of electricity in Greece) and Aluminium of (...)

Adjustments to the quantification criteria used in the prioritization of cases (HCC 616/2015) In 2012, the HCC announced a point system, based on which it regulates the prioritization of all antitrust cases handled by the DirectorateGeneral (HCC 539/VII/2012). In March 2016, the HCC announced (...)

Tobacco Manufacturers - Commitments in relation to revised distribution arrangements (HCC 612/2015) In July 2015 the HCC by a unanimous decision accepted commitments proposed by four (4) leading producers and importers of tobacco products in Greece and the local distributor of Japan Tobacco (...)

Vertical Agreements Restriction of parallel trade clauses in Colgate’s vertical agreements with retailers – Parental liability (HCC 610/2015) In 2017, the HCC published its decision against members of the COLGATE-PALMOLIVE group of companies pursuant to an ex officio investigation in the (...)

Acquisition of sole control in CRETAN Retail Management by MARINOPOULOS (HCC 607/2015) As in the SKLAVENITIS/HALKIADAKIS case, this case (March 2015) also involved the super-market sector in Crete. MARINOPOULOS was already present in the Cretan market, whereas CRETAN was also active in the (...)

Acquisition of sole control of KRONOS N. KARAKITSOS by MARINOPOULOS (HCC 605/2015) In March 2015, the HCC cleared another concentration in the same market between KRONOS a local super-market chain operating in Patras, and the wider Achaia, Peloponnese area and MARINOPOULOS (holder of Carrefour (...)

Acceptance of commitments by 9 fuel trading companies - addressing non-compete obligations in long term exclusive commercial lease and cooperation agreements in the retail fuel market (HCC 602/2015) In February 2015 the HCC adopted a formal decision which rendered commitments proposed by nine (...)

Acquisition of sole control of MAKRO Cash & Carry by SKLAVENITIS (HCC 601/2015) In January 2015, the HCC cleared the acquisition of MAKRO Cash & Carry by INO, SKLAVENITIS’ subsidiary, in Phase I. The relevant market was that of the wholesale trade of super-market goods, given that (...)

Acquisition of sole control of retailer HALKIADAKIS by SKLAVENITIS (HCC 600/2015) The merger activity in the market for trade of groceries and super-market goods was the one which dominated the merger control agenda of the HCC in 2015. The SKLAVENITIS/HALKIADAKIS case (January 2015) was (...)

Dental Technicians’ Association of Crete fined nominal fine of €218 for providing minimum pricelists to its members (HCC 591/2014) In June 2007 a number of Cretan dentists filed with the HCC a complaint against the Dental Technician’s Association of Crete alleging price fixing between 2001 and (...)

Athenian Brewery fined €31.5m for abuse of dominance due to rebates, exclusivity, and shelf-space arrangements with wholesalers and retailers (HCC 590/2014) In December 2015, and after 9 years of investigation, the HCC published its 662 page decision in which it found that Athenian Brewery - (...)

Procter & Gamble Hellas fined €5.3m for abuse of dominance due to target rebates and shelf-space arrangements with retailers (HCC 581/VII/2013) In April of last year, the HCC delivered its infringement decision and imposed on Procter & Gamble total fines of €5.3 million for antitrust (...)

Towards the end of 2011, Greece adopted its new cartel leniency program (“New Leniency Program”) in replacement of the 2006 leniency program which had not led to any successful leniency applications. The main changes brought about under the new regime relate to the persons who may apply for (...)

Law 3959/2011 radically reforms the legislation in relation to free competition and achieves in general terms the goals that had been set during the public consultation: enhancement of the institutional role of the Commission, improvement of the efficiency and speed of its action, safeguard of (...)

Absorption of MYTHOS Brewery by OLYMPIC Brewery (HCC 606/2015) The MYTHOS/OLYMPIC was the only M&A case handled by the HCC in 2015, which entered into Phase II. Although the clearance had been announced by March 2015, the decision was published nine months later due to the pending ATHENIAN (...)