Three companies of Gebrüder Haider had participated in a cartel, engaging in illegal price fixing, market divisions and the exchange of information with competitors in relation to public construction tenders with the intention of reducing or excluding competition, helping each other to win construction contracts and thus securing market shares.
The cartel agreements primarily concerned road building contracts in connection with mixing plants, and some building construction projects. Geographically, they covered the provinces of Lower Austria, Carinthia and Styria, with some individual cases in other provinces also having been identified.
Gebrüder Haider acknowledged infringement
In settlement talks with the AFCA, the companies Gebrüder Haider Bauunternehmung Gesellschaft m.b.H, Gebrüder Haider & Co Hoch- und Tiefbau GmbH and Haider & Co Hoch- und Tiefbau GmbH acknowledged a fine of EUR 3.51 million and their participation in the cartel. The Federal Cartel Prosecutor was also involved in these talks.
The specific application now concerns three companies of Gebrüder Haider that engage in operational construction activities.
Gebrüder Haider has introduced a certified compliance system and taken additional measures to avoid any breaches of cartel law in the future.
Previous AFCA investigations into the construction industry
Several companies that were members of the construction cartel were engaged in concerted practices with the intent of helping each other to win construction contracts and thus securing market shares and increasing margins. The cartel covered the entire Austrian territory, albeit to varying degrees depending on the company involved. In spring 2017, the AFCA carried out dawn raids together with the Central Public Prosecutor for Economic Crime and Corruption (WKStA) as part of its investigations into the construction industry, in the course of which it also impounded large amounts of data.
In autumn 2019, the AFCA submitted its initial statements of objections to the companies concerned. A statement of objections is a formal step in AFCA investigations, informing the companies concerned in writing of the objections raised against them. Further investigations into numerous other companies are ongoing. The Cartel Court has already imposed fines on several companies, with various other cases still pending.