Prague, 17th of February 2007 - For their involvement in this cartel also Dow, Shell and Eni were penalised. According to the Commission, cartel agreements on prices were made and sensitive information was exchanged between the undertakings during meetings of the European Synthetic Rubber Association (ESRA) in years 1999 - 2002. Kaučuk did not take part in these meetings directly but through its trade representative. Unipetrol was included in the enquiry only because it was Kaučuk´s parent company.

In their applications, Unipetrol and Kaučuk challenge the Commission’s decision to the full extent. The applicants concur that the evidence does not indicate that Kaučuk’s trade representative took part in any anti-competitive practices. Moreover, in Unipetrol’s case responsibility for the cartel, if any, is ruled out, if only because it does not operate on the rubber market and was not even a member of the ESRA. The mere fact that it is a parent company of Kaučuk cannot constitute sufficient grounds for establishing responsibility for cartel practices.

UNIPETROL is a group of companies operating in the petrochemical industry in the Czech Republic. In 2005 UNIPETROL became part of the PKN ORLEN Group, the largest downstream oil company in Central Europe. UNIPETROL primarily focuses on crude oil processing, fuels distribution and petrochemical production. In all these areas UNIPETROL group is one of leading players in both the Czech and Central European markets. In 2005 UNIPETROL recorded revenues amounting to CZK 81 billion and a net profit of CZK 3.5 billion.

Contact: 
Michaela Lagronová 
Spokesperson 
Unipetrol, a.s. 
Mobile: + 420 602 304 708 
E-mail: michaela.lagronova@unipetrol.cz​