Oil companies called to account in price fixing probe

OIL companies have until January 23 to respond to allegations before the Competition Committee that they have been fixing prices.

Based on the findings of an investigation by the Committee for the Protection of Competition (CPC), oil companies have been maintaining fixed pricelists – a clear violation of fair competition.

The statements were made by CPC head Costakis Christoforou, following a meeting with DISY president Nicos Anastassiades yesterday.

Christoforou added that there could be a second stage to the investigation, if the companies’ responses are not satisfactory.

Apart from oil, the CPC is also investigating whether there has been price fixing for bread, milk and other basic food products.

Anastassiades said that these cases needed to be examined as soon as possible. It seemed, he said, that there were instances where the dramatic reduction in international oil prices had failed to result in a reduction in the cost of local products, despite its increase being used to justify a dramatic increase last year.

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