Army tender ends in major scandal: AMCU imposes a fine of 36 million hryvnia
10 July 06:55
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine uncovered a collusion between two companies during a tender for the procurement of storm gear for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. For violating competition law, the companies were fined 36.4 million hryvnia and barred from participating in government procurement for three years.
This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian", citing the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.
What the Antimonopoly Committee Found
The investigation was launched following a complaint from the Defense Procurement Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, which had organized the tender for the procurement of storm gear for the military.
The expected cost of the procurement exceeded 80 million hryvnias.
During its review of the case, the AMCU determined that two bidders:
- coordinated their actions;
- exchanged information at all stages of preparation for the tender;
- coordinated their behavior while participating in the procurement.
The Commission emphasized that such actions completely eliminated competition among the bidders.
What penalties were imposed on the violators
Based on the results of the investigation, the Antimonopoly Committee found the companies’ actions to be anti-competitive concerted practices and imposed sanctions on them.
The total amount of the fine is:
- 36,431,833 hryvnias.
In addition to the financial penalty, the companies lost the right to participate in public procurement for three years.
This is not the first such case
Recently, the AMCU has already issued a series of decisions regarding anti-competitive collusion.
In particular, the committee previously:
- fined three companies nearly 9 million hryvnias for collusion during procurement for state-owned seaports;
- imposed a 5-million fine on a water utility for abuse of its monopoly position and unjustified charging of subscription fees.
