Anti-competitive behaviour

GRI 206

Management approach

GRI 103
(103-1, 103-2, 103-3)

The management approach is explained in ‘Ethics and integrity’ (GRI 102).

Legal actions for anti-competitive behaviour, anti-trust and monopoly practices

GRI 206-1

No new, relevant legal proceedings on anti-competitive behaviour or breaches of anti-trust and monopoly law were brought against Alpiq in the reporting year.

On 31 December 2021 two legal proceedings were still pending against Alpiq based on alleged anti-competitive behaviour. In 2012, the Romanian competition authority launched investigations on the energy market. These investigations resulted in legal cases against two Romanian subsidiaries of Alpiq. The two subsidiaries are accused of breaching Romanian competition law together with nine other traders/suppliers (horizontal agreement by agreeing to certain aspects in long-term contracts and vertical compartmentalisation of the market via the existence of eleven long-term contracts). At the start of January 2016, the plenum of the competition authority imposed a fine totalling RON 21,815,847 (approx. CHF 4.8 million) on the two Romanian subsidiaries of Alpiq. Alpiq denies any breach of Romanian competition law in both proceedings. The proceedings are pending at the court of final appeal.