The Hellenic Competition Authority accepts commitments from petrol product suppliers regarding long term exclusive cooperation agreements with petrol stations (BP Hellas / Shell Hellas)

By its decision No. 602/11.08.2015, the Hellenic Competition Commission (the “HCC”) unanimously accepted the commitments offered by nine (9) petrol product suppliers, to cease presumed violations of Art. 1 L. 703/77 [1] and Art. 101 TFEU. This decision (the “HCC decision”), which was the first HCC case settled in whole by commitments and a “pilot” for subsequent cases, was issued following complaints by two petrol station proprietors and an ex-officio investigation of the DG Competition (“DG Comp”) in the Greek retail petrol product market. The investigation focused primarily on exclusive cooperation agreements between petrol suppliers and petrol station proprietors, which involved lease agreements for the petrol station premises. a. Background In 2008, two Greek petrol station