Scandal around Baukartell: Styria wants millions back!

Scandal around Baukartell: Styria wants millions back!

In the shade of a massive construction cartel in Austria, there are now first legal consequences. As reported orf.at , the state of Styria has filed a lawsuit against a construction company to reclaim more than 1.9 million euros. This sum is related to excessive prices paid by the special investment program in 2013, which was created in the construction sector due to anti -antitrust law. The lawsuit aims to bring back the excessive costs that were burdened by the country's taxpayers' money. Further complaints regarding other construction projects are not excluded, since a detailed examination of all affected orders is currently taking place.

In connection with this scandal, extensive fines of over 26 million euros have been imposed against those involved, such as justiz.gv.at . The antitrust procedure revealed obvious price agreements, market reports and informational agreements, which were practiced by a large part of the Austrian construction industry between 2002 and 2017. Over 40 construction companies were involved in this illegal system, which aimed to manipulate the competition in building and civil engineering and to secure market shares. These practices not only had financial consequences for the clients, but also represented a serious threat to the integrity of free competition.

background of the agreements

The indictment is based on long -term established agreements in which companies support each other when submitting offers. The actual prices of the offers were determined in advance, and many competitors abstained from the submission of competitive offers to favor the preferred company. The affected building contracts extended across the entire Austrian federal territory, which underlines the comprehensive and systematic nature of the cartel. In these processes, the competitive authorities not only see simple violations of the rules, but possibly also criminally relevant actions. This could make the consequences for those responsible.