EC IMPOSED A RECORD PENALTY OF EUR 992 mill ON LIFT MANUFACTURERS
EC imposed a record penalty of EUR 992 mill on lift manufacturers. Brussels 21 February (TASR) – The European Committee (EC) imposed a record penalty for the cartel in the amount of almost EUR 1 billion on lift manufacturers. Major portion of the penalty, EUR 480 million, shall be paid by the German company ThyssenKrupp. It is the highest cartel penalty ever imposed on a single company.
Other companies participating in the cartel include Otis, Kone, Schindler, and Mitsubishi Electric. American company Otis has to pay EUR 225 million, Finnish company Kone the sum of EUR 142 million, and Swiss company Schindler the sum of EUR 144 million. The penalty for the Mitsubishi Electric Company which has only participated in the cartel in Netherland represents the sum of EUR 1.8 million.
In the period from 1995 to 2004 these companies in Belgium, Germany, Luxemburg, and Netherlands were fixing prices, making agreements on amounts of submitted offers, and exchanging contracts. The total penalty in the amount of EUR 992 million is the highest cartel penalty ever in the European Union history.
"This cartel resulted in the long-term enrichment at the expense of tax payers, public institutions, and estate developers. The consequences of this cartel will have the effects persisting for the next 20 to 50 years, as a lot of these companies make money from maintenance of escalators and lifts they have installed,” said the EC spokesman Mr Jonathan Todd.
Todd has also challenged the companies’ reputation of which was corrupted by this cartel to file requests on respective courts for compensation and make attempts to cancel or renegotiate their long-term contracts for lift servicing. In Mr Todd’s opinion, this high penalty reflects the market size as well as long-term consequences.
It is ironic that the cartel affected also the EC seat and the EU courts buildings in Luxemburg, as they are equipped with lifts by the above mentioned companies.
Source: Reuters.
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