PMU Imposes Fines Worth €15 million on Cartel of Medical Laboratories

Bratislava, 12 May (TASR) - The Antimonopoly Office (PMU) has uncovered a cartel of four medical laboratories and an association operating in Slovakia, imposing fines totalling almost €15 million for anti-competitive conduct involving laboratory diagnostics throughout Slovakia, PMU representatives told a press conference on Tuesday, adding that this is currently a first-instance and non-final decision, as most of the entities concerned have appealed against it. One of the participants in the cartel cooperated with PMU, so its fine has been reduced. According to PMU vice-chair Peter Demcak, the cartel's anti-competitive conduct was taking place before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The level of imposed fines matches the seriousness of the case. "We went to the lengths permitted by law, that is, a maximum of 10 percent of global turnover, and we also imposed the strictest degree of gravity of 30 percent, as permitted by our regulations," stated Demcak. Most of the entities involved in the cartel have also been banned from taking part in public procurement procedures for a period of three years. According to Demcak, the case dates back to 2023, when the Finance Ministry's Value for Money Unit warned of suspicious conduct by major medical laboratories when signing contracts with health-insurers. This triggered PMU inspections, resulting in the launch of administrative proceedings in 2024, which, due to the complexity of the case, took nearly two years to complete with a 370-page-long decision. As far as anti-competitive practices are concerned, "the participants agreed on prices and other terms and conditions, and also divided up the market and customers among themselves, coordinated their course of action in public procurement, and exchanged sensitive information," stated PMU cartel department head Juraj Syrny. The restriction of competition may have burdened public finances, resulting in inefficient spending of public funds. In agreeing on their prices and conditions, they followed a joint strategy during negotiations with all three health-insurers on the terms and prices for providing laboratory diagnostic services, including COVID testing. According to Syrny, some businesses were involved in the price-fixing in the period between June 2017 and September 2022, and others between November 2018 and September 2022. "It seems as if the price-fixing practices were taking place in two periods: up to the moment an emergency arose, that is, the COVID-19 pandemic, and then from the start of the pandemic. As the pandemic began, the participants specifically expanded their prohibited cooperation to include COVID tests," added Syrny. jrg/df