State pays fine for construction firms’ cartel
The state must return €56m in EU funds for highways, as it has been unable to effectively punish a cartel of construction firms from 2004, the EU ruled. Construction firms Doprastav (linked to Miroslav Výboh) and Strabag (Oleg Deripaska), which organized the cartel, avoided any punishment. Three of the cartel members paid their share of fines, namely Skanska (€9m), Inžinierske stavby (€3m) and Betamont (€0.1m), after confirmation of the cartel by the courts, the anti-trust authority PMÚ and the public procurement authority ÚVO. Mota-Engil was to pay €13.9m, Strabag €12.2m and Doprastav €6.6m, but they escaped thanks to lengthy court proceedings and other legal loopholes.
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