The Austrian Cartel Court has imposed a fine of €103,000 on construction company Marko Bauunternehmung Hoch- und Tiefbau GmbH & Co KG and related entities following a request by the Austrian Federal Competition Authority (Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde, BWB). The decision forms part of the broader investigations into cartel conduct in Austria’s construction sector.
According to the authority, the companies forming the Marko group directly participated in anti-competitive practices involving price-fixing, market sharing and the exchange of competitively sensitive information with competitors. The conduct affected both public and private tenders in the building construction and civil engineering sectors in the Austrian region of Styria between at least May 2013 and July 2016.
The BWB found that the company’s conduct formed part of a wider cartel scheme affecting the construction industry across Austria. Participating firms were involved to varying degrees in numerous collusive arrangements linked to construction projects, including civil engineering and building construction works. Road construction projects were reported to have played a particularly significant role in the cartel activity.
According to the findings, the objective of the collusive arrangements was to minimise or eliminate competition in tender procedures and to ensure that cartel participants secured contracts while maintaining market shares and stable capacity utilisation. The companies coordinated their behaviour through price agreements, the division of markets and projects, and the exchange of sensitive information concerning future bidding strategies.
The investigation also revealed that cartel participants frequently agreed in advance which company would win a tender and at what price the bid would be submitted. In some cases, competitors submitted so-called cover bids to give the appearance of competition, while in other instances companies agreed not to submit bids at all. The formation of joint ventures or bidding consortia that violated cartel rules was also identified as part of the coordination mechanisms.
Under Austria’s Cartel Act, agreements that restrict or distort competition, including price-fixing or market sharing arrangements, are prohibited. Where an infringement is established, the Cartel Court may impose fines of up to 10% of a company’s total turnover in the preceding financial year. In determining the level of fines, the court considers factors such as the gravity and duration of the infringement, the degree of fault, the economic capacity of the undertaking and the extent of cooperation with the authorities.
