The Fair Trade Commission announced on the 8th that it will impose a correction order and a total of 2,953 million won on the four companies that collide in bids for the purchase of sewer pipes and manholes.
The fines are KRW 1.43 billion for Korean fiber, KRW 1,229 billion for Kolon Industries, KRW 275 million for Korean Polytechnics, and KRW 48 million for Finetech Composites.
In the bid for sewage pipes and manholes conducted by the Public Procurement Service and private construction companies in 2011-2016, the four companies agreed in advance with the bidders and bid prices, and implemented them, the Fair Trade Commission said.
The FTC explained that the bidders that are expected to be placed in the future will be bidders by considering each company’s business contribution and areas of interest, and when a bid is placed, they agree on a price and participate in the bidding.
The bidding conducted by the Public Procurement Service was led by Kolon Industries and Fiber Korea to determine the successful bidder and the rest of the companies to participate in the agreement process. In the bid for construction companies, only Kolon Industries and Fiber Korea participated in the bidding.
The Fair Trade Commission said, “Since the 2010s, as the number of companies manufacturing the same item has increased, competition has intensified, and as profits declined due to a drop in unit prices, we started bidding collusion led by Fiber Korea and Kolon Industries to avoid competition.
The Fair Trade Commission added, “The issue of using the bidding-rigging symptom analysis system to detect signs of collusion, and even discovering and sanctioning collusion related to bidding by private construction companies in the process of investigation.”
/yunhap news
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