The Office for the Protection of Competition has penalised four major companies operating in the Czech cable production and sales sector for participation in an illegal cartel agreement. Fines totaling CZK 1,942,000,000 (approximately €79.3 million) were issued following an investigation into coordinated pricing practices. One involved manufacturer, PRAKAB Pražská Kabelovna, escaped financial penalties entirely by uncovering details of the scheme under the regulator’s leniency program, enabling authorities to conduct unannounced local inspections.
According to official findings, six market players—Kablo Vrchlabí, NKT, PRAKAB Pražská Kabelovna, PRECON, Prysmian Kabely, and Tele-Fonika Kabely CZ—colluded to standardise calculations for the “metal surcharge”. This surcharge covers the cost of copper or aluminum contained in energy and telecommunications cables and represents a substantial portion of the final product price alongside base overheads and manufacturing costs.
Rather than determining surcharge formulas independently, the participating firms secretly harmonised their pricing formulas, verified each other’s calculations, and published the figures through industry channels such as the Association of Cable and Wire Manufacturers and Hospodářské noviny as objective market rates. The collusive behavior started as early as 2010 for NKT, PRAKAB, and Prysmian, 2011 for Tele-Fonika, and 2020 for PRECON and Kablo Vrchlabí, continuing until February 2022.
Kamil Nejezchleb, Vice-Chairman of the Office, noted that the coordinated practices intentionally eliminated price competition across a significant portion of cable costs. Individual sanctions reflect both the extended duration of the violation and the substantial sales value of the affected goods:
Prysmian Kabely received a record sanction of CZK 955,000,000 (around €39 million), marking the largest single fine ever imposed by the Office. NKT was fined CZK 910,071,000 (around €37.2 million), Tele-Fonika Kabely CZ received a CZK 49,581,000 fine (around €2 million), and Kablo Vrchlabí was fined CZK 27,528,000 (around €1.1 million). PRECON was not penalized due to ongoing insolvency proceedings and a lack of assets.
The decision is not yet final, and the penalized entities retain the right to appeal to the President of the Office for the Protection of Competition.