he Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) is currently conducting extensive investigations into suspected cartel activity within the construction industry, according to Csaba Balázs Rigó, President of the Hungarian Competition Authority, who spoke at the annual general meeting of the Hungarian Construction Contractors’ Association in Budapest on Tuesday.
Rigó stated that the authority remains highly active and effective by international standards, particularly in uncovering public procurement cartels. At present, the GVH has launched ten cartel proceedings related to the construction sector, involving approximately seventy companies. As part of these investigations, GVH experts are examining more than five hundred public procurement tenders, several of which raise suspicions of bid-rigging and other forms of anti-competitive coordination.
In his presentation entitled “Market Investigation Opportunities and Experiences Affecting the Construction Industry”, Rigó highlighted the GVH’s decades-long experience in pursuing construction-sector cartels. Over the past twenty years, the GVH Competition Council has imposed fines totaling several billion forint in major cartel cases in the industry.
According to the GVH President, most construction cartels target tenders financed by public funds, although illegal market-sharing arrangements also threaten the efficient use of private resources. Beyond classic infringements such as price-fixing and market allocation, the authority has also identified so-called “information cartels,” where competitors unlawfully exchange sensitive commercial information. While some cartels relate to individual tenders, more complex and long-running arrangements across multiple procedures have also been detected.
Rigó emphasized that the GVH remains open to cooperation with companies, including in cases involving serious violations such as public procurement cartels. He underlined that voluntary disclosure and active cooperation under the GVH’s leniency policy can significantly reduce corporate liability and, in certain cases, lead to full immunity from fines. Even where full immunity is not granted, cooperation may help enterprises avoid exclusion from public procurement through the “self-cleaning” mechanism provided for under Hungarian law.
He also noted that, in addition to formal competition proceedings, the GVH makes extensive use of market studies, sectoral inquiries and accelerated sectoral investigations to detect and address market distortions. In 2021–2022, the authority conducted accelerated sectoral investigations in the markets for ceramic masonry elements, wooden construction materials and thermal insulation products.
Finally, Rigó referred to a pending amendment to the Competition Act, currently before the Hungarian Parliament, which would introduce a new legal framework inspired by German and British models. The proposed rules would create a legal category for enterprises of “cross-market significance,” enabling the GVH to intervene more rapidly in cases of structural competition distortions. He stressed that the draft legislation is aligned with European Union law and preserves the full procedural and defence rights of undertakings subject to investigations.