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Scandal/ Albanian courts overturn the Competition Authority's fine against "Antea Cement", legalizing monopoly and price fixing!

2026-03-26 10:30:59Fokus SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
ANTEA CEMENT (has absorbed "Alba Cemento")/ Competition Authority

The courts in Albania have overturned the fine imposed by the Competition Authority against the company Antea Cement , over its dominant position in the cement market and the manner in which competition law was implemented in Albania.

The Competition Authority had imposed a fine of around 1 million euros on the company Antea Cement , after a several-year investigation in which abuse of the dominant position in the market was found.

According to the institution's decision, the company had applied high prices and practices that could harm competition in the cement market.

However, the court overturned this decision, assessing that the arguments and evidence presented were not sufficient to support the administrative fine.

The court's decision is not yet final and is expected to move to other judicial levels.

In his reaction, the head of the Competition Authority, Denar Biba, writes that the Albanian court did not consider even a 56% profit problematic in one case, overturning the decision of the Competition Authority which fined the relevant company 1 million euros for abuse of a dominant position.

Denar Biba's reaction:

One more thing, regarding “excessive/excessive prices”: if a certain company, which does not have a dominant position in the market, decides to sell its products at 300%, 1000% profit, this behavior does not constitute a violation of competition law. To illustrate: if the bar below my building decides to sell a cup of coffee for 100€, this is entirely its problem, as long as it is taxed on the profit.

The fact that my neighbors and I will "try" to walk 2-300m to another bar has not been considered problematic by economic science and legislators around the world. But the bar below the building makes better coffee than the one 300m further away - someone might say, and this may be true. Again, it is not a concern of the law. On the contrary, this should encourage other bars to improve the quality of the product.

Also, the fact that one or several supermarkets sell expensively some of their products that are not essential for the consumer as long as they are substitutable (e.g. coffee is considered substitutable for tea according to world doctrine and jurisprudence, just as cola is substitutable for Pepsi, electric stoves for gas stoves, private cars for public transportation, parmesan cheese for cottage cheese or the latter for white cheese, etc., etc.), does not constitute a violation of competition law.

Finally, the concept of "excessive pricing" is almost "made in the EU".

Under American competition law, excessive pricing is not illegal. Even when the company selling the product has a monopoly position, as long as the company has legally acquired the dominant position in the market.

We recall that the company, Antea Cement, is 100 percent owned by Alvacim Limited, a company registered in Cyprus.

In 2022, Antea Cement recorded a turnover of 122 million euros and a profit of 18 million euros.

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