Heavy fines for the entire Greek poultry sector are imposed today by the Competition Commission which  affect  a total of 13 companies including many brand names such as Nitsiakos, Angelakis, Pindos, VIOKOT, and others in order to send a message that with sentences 8, 10 or even  12 million per occasion, the industry essentially will be driven to extinction.

“It is certain that the cost of this cruel decision will mean direct shut-downs and a loss of over 10,000 jobs during the present critical unemployment period. Jobs in the already suffering Greek region  “said industries representatives.

We should emphasize that the Competition Committee by unanimous decision found that 13 of the total poultry companies and the Association of Poultry Business in Greece (SPEE), have violated Article 1 of Law 703/1977 on prohibited cartels and 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), by adopting illegal practices, horizontal price fixing and customer allocation, in order to coordinate their pricing policy and market sharing.

Specifically, based on the grounds of the decision of the Competition Commission,there has been  evidence that a large number of poultry enterprises systematically coordinated entrepreneurial action, and such practices spread across the range of fresh and frozen chicken at all the  levels of the supply chain (wholesalers, supermarkets, barbecues, butchers).

The poultry cartel, which according to the Decision has lasted for a long period (1996-2010).