The Antimonopoly office has reduced a penalty charged on construction companies. The companies, which were found to have created an illegal cartel, will have to pay CZK 1.66bn, rather than the original penalty which was set at CZK 2bn. Among the contractors found to be part of the cartel were Skanska, Strabag, Eurovia, Swietelsky stavební, M-Silnice, Berger Bohemia and Lesostavby Třeboň, all of whom were found to have worked together on public tenders between 2006 and 2008. Despite the reduction, the penalty is still the highest ever inflicted by the Czech Antimonopoly office. Skanska is to pay the highest portion – CZK 529.9m, followed by Strabag (497.6m) and Eurovia (492.6m). Further penalties range from CZK 4.2m for Lesostav Třeboň to CZK 76.2m for Swietelsky.
