Article on the right of compensation of the companies affected by the trucks cartel, published by a member of our Competition law team

Article on the right of compensation of the companies affected by the trucks cartel, published by a member of our Competition law team

20.02.2017
Юрист на дружеството публикува статия за обезщетение на потърпевшите от картела на камионите

Boriana Chotekova, a Senior Associate in Eurolex Bulgaria – Andrey Delchev & Partners, has published an article regarding the right of compensation of Bulgarian companies affected by the trucks cartel.
In 2016 the EU Commission imposed fines to the truck producers MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco и DAF for participating in a cartel that coordinated the gross prices of heavy and medium trucks from 1997 to 2011. Besides the enormous fine of more than Euro 2 billion, the infringers may face the risk of even more expensive actions for damages filed by the business entities affected by the cartel, including many Bulgarian companies.
Persons eligible to seek compensation may be either direct truck purchasers which operate in the transport, forwarding, distribution, logistics field, or indirect purchasers down the supply chain, which take on an overcharge for the incurred price increase. The companies may demand compensation, including lost profit and statutory interest rate only for the period from 2007, the year of Bulgaria’s entry into the EU. The default rule is that actions for damages shall be submitted to the domicile jurisdiction of the infringers. It is also possible to bring actions before the Member State which is the “place of performance” of the purchasing contract or where the harmful effect occurred, i.e. before the Bulgarian civil courts.
The court has the task to estimate the extent of the sought damage where particular knowledge and experience is often required. This is the reason why Bulgarian courts could not be defined as the most suitable venue for bringing an action. Still, the trickiest issue remains the estimation of the actual extent of the caused damages. For complicated cases, such as the trucks cartel, it is necessary to consider European wide effects and difficulties coming out of the heterogenous nature of the product. Important financial resources, economic and IT expertise shall be needed to bring a successful action.
It is common practice in Europe and the US that specialized entities purchase claims of multiple affected parties, pool them together and bring an action in their own name. This option may enhance the successful outcome of the action, as it transfers all risks and charges related to the lawsuit to a firm with considerable expertise and knowledge in that field. In such a case the actions against multiple defendants may be decided by a competent national court in the domicile of any of the defendants.

 

You can read the complete text of the article here

Other News