The plenary session of the Hellenic Competition Commission (hereinafter the “HCC”) will convene on 09 November 2020 to assess the extension of commitment terms A.1 – Α.1.1 accepted by its decision no. 650/2017 for one more year.
In the HCC’s preliminary assessment of the practices under scrutiny, "DELTA SA" and "MEVGAL SA" took on, inter alia, the commitment to procure (directly or through third parties) fresh cow milk from each of their milk producers, until 21.10.2017, in 12 prefectures of Greece under a minimum guaranteed price, based on a specific mathematical formula1. This commitment concerns all the milk producers which supplied "DELTA SA" and/or "MEVGAL SA" with fresh cow milk until 21.10.2017. In any case, "DELTA SA" and/or "MEVGAL SA" maintain the right to offer higher prices.
Given the assessment of the effectiveness of the above mentioned commitment terms and the competitive conditions of fresh cow milk market in Greece, the Rapporteur suggests the extension of commitment terms A.1 – Α.1.1 as accepted by its decision no. 650/2017 for one more year.
The HCC decided by its decision no 697/2019[2] on December 18, 2019[3], given the Statement of Objections (hereinafter the “SO”) of the Rapporteur [4]:
A) the extension of commitment terms A.1 – Α.1.1 as accepted by its decision no. 650/2017 for one more year, that is, from 21.10.2019 until 20.10.2020.
B) to review "DELTA’s SA" and "MEVGAL’s SA" compliance with the commitments’ decision no. 650/2017.
It should be noted that the Opinion is not binding on the HCC, which will decide on the basis of the available facts and the views of the parties.
[1] For the calculation of a minimum guaranteed price we use the weighted average price of the ELGO DIMITRA database and weighted average prices of "DELTA SA" and "MEVGAL SA.
[2] The Decision is available at https://www.epant.gr/files/2019/apofaseis/697_2019.pdf.
[3] See https://www.epant.gr/apofaseis-gnomodotiseis/item/1046-apofasi-697-2019.html.
[4] Regarding the SO of the Rapporteur, see. https://www.epant.gr/enimerosi/deltia-typou/item/737-deltio-typou-aksiologisi-tis-apotelesmatikotitas-tis-desmefsis-gia-tin-elaxisti-eggyimeni-timi-paragogoy.html.
