With a total of 936 million in total, the antitrust fine Eni, it, IP, Q8, Saras and Tamoil contesting a restrictive agreement of the competition. The investigation, started after reporting a whistleblower, concluded that the main oil operators coordinated to determine the value of the BIO component included in the price of fuel. The clash with Eni is hard, who “expresses the most firm dissent and the profound surprise for the conclusions of the authority, underlining that that item was” introduced by the companies in traditional fuels to comply with regulatory obligations “.
Saras speaks of accusatory thesis and unfounded and announces that the provision will hold. API also considers “the disputes without foundation”, Eni, who announces appeals “in every competent location”, believes that at the basis of the sanction there is an “artificial reconstruction that ignores the logic of the market functioning and gave the reality of the facts”: the antitrust ignores “evidence that emerged during the investigation”.
The oil group and considers the decision “even more paradoxical if we consider that concerns a component, imposed by regulatory obligations, which affects only a few cents per liter on the consumption price of fuel and affects correctly correct and transparent commercial conduct, disenchanted efficiency and innovation in a strategic sector for the country”. It is a clear reply: for the company “a similar approach, unfortunately not new by the authority, risks further penalizing Italian industrial investments in the energy transition”.
Eni disputes the “damage deriving from an unjust penalty, of absolutely abnormal amount” but also “yet another serious reputational damage for Eni, which is approached to collusive practices to which it is completely foreign”, remembering that in the past he had already received a sanction “for assorted incorrect commercial practices precisely in relation to his own biocarbubs (Diesel+case” then “definitively canceled by the Council of State after more than 5. years “. The authority of the competition and the market has communicated that it has” ascertained a restrictive agreement of the competition in the sale of autoration for all parties “involved by the investigation,” except for IPLOM and Repsol “. 129,363,561 euros, IP for 163,669,804 euros, Q8 for 172,592,363 euros, Saras for 43,788,944 euros and tamoils for 91,029,755 euros “.
“As a result of the complex investigation, started following the complaint of a whistleblower – explained the authority – it emerged that Eni, it, IP, Q8, Saras and Tamoil coordinated to determine the value of the bio component inserted in the price of fuel (component introduced by the companies to comply with the obligations provided for by the legislation in force). The sign began on January 1, 2020 and lasted until 30 June 2023. The value of this important component of the price went from around 20 euros/cubic meters of 2019 to about 60 euros/cubic meters of 2023 “. According to the antitrust “the companies have implemented contextual price increases – largely coinciding – determined by exchanges of direct or indirect information among the companies concerned. The sign was facilitated by the communication of the punctual value of the BIO component in numerous articles published on “Daily relay”, a well -known sector of the sector, thanks also to the information sent directly by Eni to the newspaper “. Codacons speaks of “very serious violation that has produced enormous economic damage to consumers” and evaluates a class action.