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The Larnaca District Court issued a ruling yesterday, Wednesday 9 February, ordering the Grain Commission to pay a fine of 257 thousand euros, plus statutory interest and costs in favour of a company in a case concerning abuse of the Grains Commission's dominant position in the grain market in 2007 and 2008.
According to the judgment of the Court of Justice, "the applicants in the action seek general and specific damages for the loss suffered as a result of the acts of the defendants (the Grains Commission) who, by abusing their dominant position on the cereals market, in the years 2007 and 2008, sold barley for livestock purposes below the average variable cost. Initially, in their Statement of Claim, the Claimants claimed as special damages the sum of €807,415, but their claim was reduced at the hearing stage to €431,245.62, plus statutory interest."
The defendants noted in the Chamber's decision "deny that the plaintiffs have suffered any damages in the years 2007 - 2008, which is the period in dispute, and that the amount of damages is not what they claim in their Statement of Claim".
In setting out the facts of the case, the Court states that "the Claimants have been engaged since 2002 in the business of importing, disposing and marketing, on a retail and wholesale basis, raw materials such as, inter alia, wheat and barley, used by livestock farmers in the manufacture of animal feed. In September 2007 the plaintiffs filed a complaint with the Competition Protection Commission (CPC) against the defendants for violation of Competition Law, alleging that the defendants in the years 2007 - 2008 sold barley for livestock use at prices much lower than the cost of importing it into Cyprus."
It is also noted that "the defendants are a Public Law Organisation and have, inter alia, responsibilities for the import, purchase, storage and disposal of cereals. It maintained a monopoly on the market for the import and marketing of all types of cereals until 2004. When the Republic of Cyprus joined the European Union, the monopoly was abolished and the cereals market was liberalised.
The judgment of the Court further states that "the Competition Commission examined the complaint and concluded that the Defendants' actions with regard to sales of barley below the average payable cost during the periods October - December 2007, January - June 2008 and October - December 2008 constituted an abuse of their dominant position on the market".
The defendants, the judgment continues, "abused their dominant position by engaging in aggressive pricing on the market for the marketing of barley for livestock use. The establishment of the infringement was based on the imposition of prices below the corresponding average variable costs."
The Court was asked to examine "whether the plaintiffs have suffered any damage as a result of the defendants' actions and, if it is satisfied that they have indeed suffered damage, the amount thereof."
The Court was asked to examine "whether the plaintiffs have suffered any damage as a result of the defendants' actions and, if it is satisfied that they have suffered damage, the amount thereof.
Before the Court, the judgment notes, "a large number of documents were filed" which the Judge was asked to consider, adding that "the quantification of harm in competition cases is subject to significant limitations with respect to the degree of certainty. The market is affected by a number of factors which are not easy to assess with absolute precision and therefore the damages are approximate."
The District Judge further stated in his decision that based on the evidence before him he concluded that "the plaintiffs have suffered damages from the sale of their inventory at below cost , totalling €257,716.11. The financial loss suffered by the plaintiffs was a consequence of the aggressive pricing practiced by the defendants during the period in question, abusing their dominant position in the grain market."
The Judge ultimately rendered judgment in favour of the plaintiffs and against the defendants for the sum of €257,716.11, plus statutory interest on that sum.\
Source: KYPE
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