Firms fined for fixing unleaded fuel prices
A man is seen preparing to fill underground storage tanks with petrol from his tanker at a BP gas station in this file photo. The Competition Commission yesterday fined the local units of BP and Royal Dutch Shell a total of 49.8 million euros for unleaded fuel price fixing. BP Hellas was fined 30.1 million euros and Shell Hellas 19.7 million euros. Both companies used their brand names to engage in a practice of setting discounts, according to the competition watchdog. Development Ministry data show that Shell is the second-largest company in the sector in Greece with a market share of 25.8 percent, followed by BP, which has a 15.3 percent share of the market. Expectations of steeper fines had led to talk that Shell was preparing to pull out of the Greek market.
