Rail track supplier cartel exposed in Poland
The suspects were allegedly fixing the price of rail tracks.
The Polish Internal Security Agency (ABW) has apprehended the managers of two Polish suppliers of rail and tram tracks on suspicion of operating a price fixing cartel,” the Polish press reported in April 2014.
“We suspect them of price fixing practices,” said Waldemar Tyl, chief of the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw, according to Polish business daily Puls Biznesu April 17.
Janusz R., the CEO of ThyssenKrupp GFT, a track supplier, and Stanislaw M., the vice chairman of Track Tec, which also supplies other rail superstructure parts, were detained on April 16 by the Polish Internal Security Agency. Seven further individuals were also apprehended as part of the investigation, according to Puls Biznesu.
The accused allegedly rigged a public tender for the supply of rails, which was issued by the Polish state-owned railway incumbent PKP PLK in December 2013. The total value of the tender is estimated at some PLN 124 mln. No binding contract has so far been signed.
Only two companies participated in the tender. If there had been more, PKP PLK would have been required under current rules to organize a competitive electronic auction. In such a scenario, the final price paid by PKP PLK, as well as the supplier’s profits, would almost certainly have been lower. To avoid this scenario the companies allegedly agreed for only two among them to take part in the tender, and then to split the profit.
The alleged cartel members were discovered following the use of surveillance equipment by ABW. It has been suggested that the investigation was launched following complaints from competitor companies, although no official statement has confirmed this.
Photo courtesy of Oly Chatterjee
