Competition Restraints in the Fuel Market – Opinion to the Minister for Transport and Local Government

The opinion calls on the Minister for Transport and Local Government to ensure that the Transport Equalisation Fund does not pass on information that could harm competition, and to push for amendments to the provisions of Act No. 103/1994, on the equalisation of transport costs for oil products, so that the appointment to the fund's board is made entirely independent of companies operating in the fuel market.

In the opinion of the Competition Authority, the information sharing by the Fuel Equalisation Fund and the fund's governance have a detrimental effect on competition. The information exchange consists, in particular, of the fund collecting and passing on to competitors in the fuel market information about the total sales of all oil companies, which the companies then use, among other things, to estimate their market share. This information is provided on a monthly basis. In the view of the Competition Authority, information exchange of this kind is unequivocally harmful to competition, given that the fuel market exhibits various signs of oligopoly.

The recommendations also state that, in accordance with the fund's legislation, competitors are to cooperate on the nomination of a board member for the fund, or that a single representative from each association sits on the board. When the investigation began, representatives of competitors sat together on the board, but now a single director is jointly nominated. The Competition Authority recommends that the law be amended so that the oil companies have no involvement in the fund's board.

This opinion is one of four opinions published in connection with a market study of the fuel market, in which recommendations are made to public authorities to promote improved competitive conditions in the fuel market.