REG - Soc EnergElectricaSA - Announcement Competition Council Blacklist

Societatea Energetica Electrica SAAnnouncement

28/08/2020 16:10

RNS Number : 5038X
  
Societatea Energetica Electrica SA
  
28 August 2020
  
 

 
ANNOUNCEMENT regarding the decision of the Competition Council to include Electrica on the updated Blacklist of companies that were involved in investigations regarding some public tenders' rigging
 
Regarding the decision of the Competition Council to include Societatea Energetica Electrica SA (Electrica) on the updated Blacklist of companies that were involved in investigations regarding some public tenders' rigging, Electrica reminds investors and shareholders that, by Decision no. 77 / 20 December 2017 (the "Decision"), Electrica was sanctioned by the Competition Council, the authority retaining the quality of "facilitator" of Electrica (concept not definitively confirmed by the Romanian courts), Electrica not being retained in the evidence of the competition authority as a participant to the market agreements. The events covered by the Decision refer to the sale, by several companies, of meters and related measuring equipment for electricity in Romania in the procedures for the award of supply contracts in the period from 27 November 2008 to 30 September 2015 and by Electrica, as a facilitator, in the period from 24 November 2010 to 30 September 2015.
In the context in which Electrica fully cooperated with the Competition Council, beyond its legal obligation to do so, during this investigation in order to identify practices that may affect the company, and considering that Electrica is not a producer of electric meters, we believe that it cannot be considered that the company participated in any agreement aimed to share the market for the trading of meters and related equipment for electricity measurement in Romania. Therefore, Electrica filed an appeal against the Decision and the case is pending before the High Court of Cassation and Justice, with the settlement deadline as of 9 February 2022, so that, at this moment, there is no final court decision.
The sanction applied to Electrica consisted in a contraventional fine, established as percentage of the total turnover achieved in the financial year 2016. In determining the amount of the fine, it was taken into account that (i) Electrica cooperated fully and effectively with the Competition Council during the investigation procedure, outside the scope of the leniency policy and beyond the legal duty to cooperate, (ii) the turnover achieved by Electrica on the market retained as the market on which the infringement took place is less than 20%, (iii) it is for the very first time when the authority retains the role of facilitator for a company organizing public procurement procedures, and (iv) at the company level there is a program to ensure compliance with competition law (disseminated, implemented and assumed by employees).
Electrica reminds investors and all interested persons that no persons who had the power of representation of the company or who acted on the basis of a mandate granted by the company were involved in the actions which are levied by the Competition Council against the company, therefore the company carried out internal investigations, and, following these internal steps, proceeded with the legal measures required, including a compliance plan so that such incidents are avoided in the future.
Electrica has applied and continues to apply a policy of zero tolerance against any breaches of the applicable laws, including competition law. In this respect, Electrica has consistently promoted both within its internal regulations and procedures, as well as in dealing with business partners, the compliance with competition rules, protection of fair competition and fairness in business dealings. 
In this context, the inclusion of Electrica on the updated Blacklist of companies that were involved in investigations regarding some public tenders' rigging violates the rights of Electrica and harms Electrica's reputation, as a so-called blacklist is associated with the idea of definitely proven guilt, while this is not true in Electrica's case. As a result, we consider that the inclusion of Electrica in the List has no legal basis.
We mention that we will immediately contact the representatives of the Competition Council in order to request the removal of Electrica from the list drawn up by the authority.
 
Chief Executive Officer                                            
Georgeta Corina Popescu    
 
 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.
 
  END
 
 
STRKKFBNNBKDNFB