The Competition Council has extended its investigation in the timber harvesting and processing sector

The Competition Council has extended its investigation into the Romanian timber market and has
carried out further unannounced inspections at the headquarters and branches of six companies operating in the area.
Holzindustrie Schweighofer SRL, Egger Romania SRL, Kronospan Sebeș SA, Silva
Logistic Services SRL, Alredia SRL and Lacul Codrilor SRL.
"New clues have come to light which have led us to extend the investigation nationwide into the
possible market-sharing deals between companies in the sector, sources of
supply and pricing in tenders organized by Romsilva. These
new clues have led us to extend the investigation nationwide," said Bogdan
Chirițoiu, the president of the Competition Council, in a press release posted on its website.
The documents collected during the inspections are being analyzed by the Romanian competition authority,
in the specific investigation procedures.
Recall that earlier this month, the Competition Council launched an investigation
on possible cartels between companies active on the timber processing market to
market division, sources of supply and allocation of shares (volume of timber
for sale) at a minimum price at auctions organized by the Forest Directorates
Alba and Hunedoara.
The Competition Authority is also carrying out a sector inquiry into the market
wood where structures and functioning mechanisms are analyzed. In
August 2015, in the preliminary report of the study, the Competition Council made a number of
recommendations for improving the competitive environment in this sector.