28 May 2008
Coalition against BAYER Dangers (Germany)
Bayer today was fined 10.34 million euros by the German Cartel Office. During the past years Bayer has been convicted in a multitude of cases involving cartel offences. In 2005 alone, the company had to pay 275 million euros in fines (please find a list of recent cases below).
“We are talking about sums of several hundreds of millions in these cartel arrangements. It is unthinkable that decisions of this magnitude were taken without the knowledge of the board of management. Only when the responsible directors fear custodial sentences can a deterrent effect be assumed, according to Philipp Mimkes from the Coalition Against BAYER Dangers. The group filed charges against the Board Chairman of the BAYER corporation, Werner Wenning, with the Cologne Public Prosecutor. “The majority of illegal price fixing remains undiscovered and it is consumers and taxpayers who pay the bill, continues Mimkes. “It is unacceptable that those responsible for fraud worth millions are not criminally prosecuted.
Bayer fined 10.34 million euros by German Cartel Office in competition probe
Thomson Financial, FRANKFURT – Bayer AG was fined 10.34 million euros by the German Cartel Office for granting special discounts to German pharmacies on condition they stick to the drug maker‚s sales price recommendation for over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, the antitrust regulator said.
Bayer‘s German drug distribution unit Bayer Vital offered the discounts to pharmacies that pledged to market the company‚s OTC drugs as premium products and to refrain from long-term discount offers, the Cartel Office said in a statement. Bayer said in a separate statement that it accepts the fine even though it does not agree with the Cartel Office‘s ruling.
Recent cartels involving Bayer:
* German antitrust agency searches Bayer for illegal price-fixing of aspirin
* EU Commission fines four firms 75.86 million for rubber chemical cartel
* BAYER CORPORATION AGREES TO PLEAD GUILTY TO PARTICIPATING IN A CHEMICAL ADDITIVE CARTEL
* Former Top Bayer Executives Indicted in Price-Fixing Conspiracy
* Bayer, Roche, ADM: EU COMMISSION FINES FIVE COMPANIES IN CITRIC ACID CARTEL
* Bayer AG Agrees to Plead Guilty and Pay $66 Million Fine for Rubber Cartel
Please also see the charge brought against BAYER by CBG (German)