The Competition Commission suspects new tender agreements between several construction companies in Graubünden.
Following information from the Canton, the guardian of healthy competition opened an investigation against several firms in the Italian-speaking region of Moesa. Construction companies are suspected of illegal deals.
The alleged agreements relate to calls for tenders in the field of construction, said Friday Comco. As part of its investigations, it will endeavor to determine whether these tender agreements have unlawfully restricted competition. Searches have already been carried out on the companies concerned.
If several companies coordinate their offers during public or private contract awards, they form a bid agreement. In such an agreement, bidders generally designate the company which is expected to win the tender and also fix the price. Comco has already conducted ten investigations into tender agreements in the canton of Graubünden and issued its last decision in 2019.
The case of the illegal construction cartel in Graubünden ended with the payment by Swiss construction number one, Implenia, of 1 million francs to the Canton as compensation. In the end, the fifteen firms involved had paid compensation for a total of 9 million.
The case of illegal cartels in the Lower Engadine has represented the largest case of construction manipulation discovered in Switzerland so far. Antitrust violations were identified and punished for the period from 2004 to 2012. Fines were imposed for a total amount of approximately 20 million francs.
(ATS / NXP)
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