The Competition Protection Agency (AZTN) has initiated a procedure to determine the disruption of market competition due to the conclusion of a prohibited agreement among entrepreneurs in the dairy industry, based on indications of the existence of an agreement on milk purchase prices, the Agency reported.
As part of the procedure, the Agency also conducted its first unannounced search at the premises of the economic interest association for the production, processing, and trade of livestock, livestock products, and animal feed, Croatiastočar, the Agency briefly announced in its latest newsletter.
The Agency did not wish to comment on the ongoing procedure today, and the only information available is that the procedure was initiated at the request of competitors in the market.
The procedure is related to the purchase prices of milk, specifically the prices at which the dairy industry purchases milk from producers.
Namely, the Ministry of Agriculture has been stating for some time, including in the autumn of last year when a dispute arose between producers and processors, that the Ministry does not set the purchase price of milk, but that it is a matter of the market.
The Competition Protection Agency has initiated the procedure based on a received initiative requesting an investigation into the indications of an agreement on purchase prices.
