The Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC), in plenary, by its Decision no 835/2023, adopted following the relevant Statement of Objections by the Commissioner-Rapporteur, Panagiotis Fotis, on a possible infringement of Article 39 (5) of Law 3959/2011 by the company under the name MOTOR OIL (HELLAS), CORINTH REFINERIES S.A. and the distinctive title “MOTOR OIL”, as well as by a natural person named I.V., consisting in the obstruction of the on-site inspection (dawn raid) conducted in the context of an ex officio investigation carried out by the Directorate-General for Competition (DGC) into the refining, wholesale and retail trade of petrol (gasoline) and diesel, unanimously found that MOTOR OIL and the aforementioned natural person infringed the above Article and, taking into account the particular gravity of the infringement, its detrimental character and impact on the dawn raid conducted, imposed a fine totaling nine million two thousand euros (EUR (9,200,000.00) on the above undertaking and a fine totaling fifty thousand euros EUR (50,000.00) on the natural person.
In particular, as stated in the grounds of the Decision, in the course of the on-site inspection carried out by DGC officials, MOTOR OIL and the natural person, instead of actively cooperating, impeded, delayed and hindered the inspection by their acts and omissions and, therefore, did not ensure the integrity - availability of the corporate files and the effectiveness of the on-site inspection. On the contrary, by their conduct, they hindered the on-site inspection and failed to comply with the obligation of active and unfailing cooperation with the DGC’s authorised officials, thus adversely affecting the effectiveness of the inspection.
In the light of the above findings, the HCC decided as follows:
A. Unanimously finds, as detailed in the grounds of the decision, that the company under the name “MOTOR OIL (HELLAS), CORINTH REFINERIES S.A.” infringed Article 39 (5) of Law 3959/2011;
B. Unanimously imposes, as detailed in the grounds of the decision, a fine totaling nine million two thousand euros (EUR (9,200,000.00) on “MOTOR OIL (HELLAS), CORINTH REFINERIES S.A.”;
C. Unanimously finds, as detailed in the grounds of the decision, that the natural person named I.V. infringed Article 39 (5) of Law 3959/2011;
D. Imposes, by majority, as detailed in the grounds of the decision, a fine totaling fifty thousand euros (EUR (50,000.00) on the natural person named I.V.