The Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic (PMÚ) issued a first-instance decision on April 17, 2026, dismantling a cartel agreement among major providers of medical laboratory diagnostic services. The regulator imposed total fines amounting to €14,551,800 against four prominent laboratories and one professional association that facilitated the illegal cooperation. The investigation revealed that the involved parties coordinated their negotiations with health insurance companies to manipulate prices and business conditions. Beyond price-fixing, the PMÚ found evidence of bid-rigging in public procurement, the exchange of sensitive commercial data, and a systematic division of the market and healthcare provider customers.
The entities named in the decision include Medirex Ltd., CLINICAL BIOCHEMISTRY Ltd., Unilabs Slovakia s.r.o., and synlab slovakia s.r.o., along with the Association of Laboratories, which acted as a facilitator for the anti-competitive behavior. Such collusion is viewed with extreme gravity by regulators because it directly inflates the costs of essential diagnostic tests and places an unnecessary burden on public finances and the broader healthcare system. In addition to the multi-million euro fines, the PMÚ has imposed a three-year ban on the participating companies from competing in public procurement contracts, effectively sidelining them from government-funded projects.
A notable aspect of this case is the application of the leniency program and the settlement institute, which significantly altered the financial penalty for Unilabs Slovakia. By providing evidence of “significant added value” to the investigation, the company first saw its fine reduced by half. Following this cooperation, Unilabs admitted full responsibility for the violation, triggering a further 30% reduction via a formal settlement. This cooperative path also allowed the company to avoid the automatic ban on public procurement participation that was applied to its competitors.
The PMÚ has utilized this high-profile case to remind the business community of the incentives available for whistleblowers and cooperating parties. The leniency program offers total immunity from fines for the first entity to provide evidence of an unknown violation, while subsequent cooperators can receive tiered reductions. While the current decision is not yet final and remains subject to appeal, it signals a rigorous crackdown on collusive practices within the critical healthcare sector. By allowing for settlements and leniency, the office aims to encourage transparency and break the “code of silence” typically found in complex market cartels.
