Retail Chains Under Investigation for Price Fixing Face Fines, Possible Shut-Down

On Oct. 29, Serbia’s Domestic and Foreign Trade Minister Tomislav Momirovic announced that the four retail chains currently under investigation for price fixing by the state Commission for Protection of Competition are facing large fines along with the possibility of their Serbian operations being shut down.

“The Commission has launched a serious investigation. To say anything else would be more than inappropriate in that it would directly interfere in the jurisdiction of an independent regulatory body which was formed as part of our road to the EU,” Momirovic told the RTS public service.

With regards to the investigation into four retail chains – Delhaize, Mercator S, DIS and Univerexport – the minister did say that the Commission has already dealt with similar cases and has, in this instance, recognized something even the public themselves could see.

Over the course of several months, the Commission for Protection of Competition monitored the prices of 35 selected products in said four retail chains and determined that their prices were identical.

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