Hungary’s Competition Office GVH levies more than EUR 9.72m of fines in 2024

Hungary’s Competition Office (GVH) has levied more than HUF 4bn of fines in 2024, the watchdog’s head, Csaba Balázs Rigó, said in an interview with daily Magyar Nemzet.

Rigo said fines had been reduced by a combined HUF 2.5bn for companies that had cooperated with GVH, acknowledging violations and waiving their right to legal recourse. He highlighted a HUF 1.2bn fine for cartel activity involving a public procurement contract for railway developments around Debrecen (E Hungary):

Hungary’s Competition Office (GVH) has fined two units of the Homlok group HUF 1.2bn for colluding in a public procurement worth tens of billions of forints called for a railway development project near Debrecen. GVH said the two companies tried to obstruct the competition authority’s procedure and therefore they also have to pay an additional procedural fine of HUF 25m. Another company involved in the case, Inter Mobility, cooperated with GVH during the procedure. It submitted a leniency application, which GVH’s Competition Council accepted, participated in a settlement procedure and undertook to introduce a compliance programme. GVH therefore reduced the fine that could be imposed on the company to HUF 30m.