It has been announced by the announcement published on the Turkish Competition Authority’s website that the investigation carried out against Beypazarı İçecek Pazarlama Dağıtım Ambalaj Turizm Petrol İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. (“Beypazarı”) and Kınık Maden Suları A.Ş. (“Kınık”) has been finalized. With the announcement, it has also been stated that both undertakings submitted leniency (active cooperation) and settlement applications separately, therefore, two different remissions have been applied for the fines imposed on the undertakings in accordance with the leniency and settlement mechanisms. Accordingly, leniency and settlement mechanisms have jointly been applied in the same investigation for the first time in Turkish competition law.
It is stated in the announcement text of the Decision that Beypazarı and Kınık, which are rivals of each other, determined prices by exchanging information regarding the actual and prospective price information, price changing dates and increased prices. Accordingly, the announcement text concludes that these undertakings breached Article 4 of Law No. 4054 on Protection of Competition by creating a cartel. It is seen that mentioned undertakings firstly submitted leniency applications, afterwards, they submitted settlement applications during the investigation phase.
Within this scope, Kınık has been imposed to a 2,322,328.75 TRY administrative fine over its 2020 turnover. Afterward, the first remission at the rate of 35 % has been applied over this amount for the leniency application and then, a second remission at the rate of 25 % has been applied for the settlement application. Consequently, Kınık has been imposed to 928,931.50 TRY final administrative fine over its 2020 turnover.
When it comes to Beypazarı, it has been imposed to a 21,885,323.28 TRY administrative fine over its 2021 turnover. Afterward, the first remission at the rate of 30 % has been applied over this amount for the leniency application and then, a second remission at the rate of 25 % has been applied for the settlement application. Consequently, Beypazarı has been imposed to 9,848,395.48 TRY final administrative fine over its 2021 turnover.
In this direction, the decision issued by the Competition Board regarding the mentioned undertakings has significance as it is the first decision where the leniency and settlement processes have been applied jointly. Thus, administrative fines imposed on undertakings have been reduced approximately in half thanks to this landmark decision. On the other hand, it also draws the attention that Beypazarı has been imposed to a fine over its 2021 turnovers while Kınık has been imposed to a fine over its 2020 turnover.