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EU fines Austrian and Czech railway business for obstructing competitor

The European Commission has actually fined Austrian rail business Osterreichische Bundesbahnen (OBB) and Czech peer Ceske drahy (CD) a total of 48.7 million euros ($ 52.5. million) for obstructing a Czech rival's market expansion, it said. on Wednesday.

The commission stated both companies had limited. competition by colluding to prevent a brand-new entrant, RegioJet,. from buying the utilized wagons it required for its growth.

Czech rail business RegioJet went into the long-distance rail. passenger transportation market in the Czech Republic in 2011,. relying primarily on utilized wagons in order to compete with CD and. OBB.

Ceske drahy will continue to protect itself against the. provided decision at EU judicial authorities, the company stated in. a statement in which it called the decision flawed.

( It) is convinced that the European Commission did not take. into account all pertinent facts, including that Ceske drahy did. not delight in any favoritism when buying used. cars.

The European Commission had actually sent a statement of objections. setting out its charges to OBB and CD in 2022, in a case that. started with the EU competitors company making dawn raids on the. business in June 2016.

(source: Reuters)