This presentation by the RCC Romania was prepared for a roundtable discussion on Criminalisation of cartels and bid rigging conspiracies at the 131st meeting of the OECD Working Party 3 on 9 June 2020. More papers, presentations and contributions from delegations on the topic can be found out at www.oecd.org/daf/competition/criminalisation-of-cartels-and-bid-rigging-conspiracies.htm

1. Romanian Bid Rigging Case
1Romanian Competition Council

2. “People from the same industry rarely meet, but when they do meet for fun,
their conversation will end in a conspiracy against the authority or in setting
a mechanism of raising prices.”
Adam Smith - “The Wealth of Nations”,1776
2Romanian Competition Council

3. Bid-rigging Module
Highlights
• National Authority for Public Acquisitions
• National Council for Solving Complaints (NCSC)
• Romanian Court of Accounts
• Control Body of the Prime Minister
• Prosecutor’ s Office attached to the High Court of
Cassation and Justice
• Antifraud Department
• Romanian Agency for Digital Agenda
Romanian Competition Council 3

4. Opening the investigation
Tips from The
Directorate for
Investigating Organized
Crime and Terrorism
Romanian Competition
Council’s own analysis
Order of the President of the Romanian
Competition Council for opening the
investigation
Romanian Competition Council 4

5. The contracting authority
State-owned company through Ministry of Economy
Main activity – transport through pipelines
Assures the access without discrimination to the national system of
natural gas transport pipelines
Romanian Competition Council 5
TRANSGAZ

6. Objective - execution of a pipeline for natural gas transport
Type of the procedure - negotiation with a prior publication of a
participation notice
Estimated value of the contract - more than 17 million €
Awarding criterion - the most economically advantageous proposal
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The first public procurement procedure

7. The first public procurement procedure
Evaluation
factors
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Price
Warranty
works
Intervention
time in
service
activity
Payment
terms

8. Step 1-
Pre-selection of the
candidates
• Submission of the qualification documents
• Decision on the qualified candidates for the negotiation
Step 2-Negotiation
• Submission of the preliminary bids
• Negotiation with each candidate
Step 3-
Evaluation of bids
• Submission of the final bids
• Evaluation of the final bids
• Decision on the winning bid
Romanian Competition Council 8
STEPS OF THE PROCEDURE

9. Romanian Competition Council 9
EVIDENCE
Handwritten
document
no. 2
Electronic
evidence
no. 1
Electronic
evidence
no. 2
Handwritten
document
no. 1

10. Romanian Competition Council 10
HANDWRITTEN DOCUMENT
NO. 1
Competitor 1’s bidding
prices
Exchange of
confidential
information
via facsimile
Competitor 2’s bidding
document

11. HANDWRITTEN DOCUMENT
NO. 2 (I)
Preliminary bids
vs.
handwritten document
No. Evaluation
factors
Preliminary
bid -
Competitor 1
Preliminary
bid -
Competitor 2
Handwritten
document -
Competitor 1
Handwritten
document -
Competitor 2
1. Price (€) 18.288.594,46 18.067.124,68 18.288.594,46 Not written
2. Guarantee
(months)
24 36 24 48/36
3. Service (hours) 12 6 12 6
4. Payment (days) 60 75 60 90/75
Romanian Competition Council 11

12. Romanian Competition Council 12
HANDWRITTEN DOCUMENT
NO. 2 (II)
Preliminary bids
vs.
handwritten document
No. Elements of the
bid
Preliminary bid -
Competitor 1
Preliminary bid -
Competitor 2
Handwritten
document -
Competitor 1
Handwritten
document -
Competitor 2
1. Costs for the
technical
equipment (lei)
18,533,930 17,166,779 18,533,930 17,166,779
2. Indirect costs
quota (%)
12 12 12 12
3. Profit quota (%) 8 8 8 8
4. Organization of
the construction
site quota (%)
3.5 2.5 3.5 2.5
5. Currency rate 4.2238 lei/€ 4.2238 lei/€ 4.2238 lei/€ 4.2238 lei/€

13. Romanian Competition Council 13
ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE NO. 1
Competitor 1 Competitor 2Email with the
elements of the bid

14. Romanian Competition Council 14
ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE NO. 2
Competitor 1
Email with the
whole preliminary
bid & 2 options
for the bidding
prices
Competitor 2

15. Romanian Competition Council 15
FINES
Competitor 1
Competitor 2
more
than 1
million €
more
than 1,6
million €

16. Romanian Competition Council 16
The second public procurement
procedure
Objective - execution of a pipeline for natural gas transport
Type of the procedure - open tender
Estimated value of the contract - more than 5 million €
Awarding criterion - the lowest price

17. Submission of the bids - 7 undertakings
Opening and evaluation of the bids
Decision on the winning bid - a third party, not part of the
anticompetitive agreement
Signing the contract with the winner
Romanian Competition Council 17
STEPS OF THE PROCEDURE

18. Romanian Competition Council 18
EVIDENCE
Competitor 1 Correlation of the unit
prices for materials Competitor 2
BID RIGGING

19. Romanian Competition Council 19
EVIDENCE
Personal e-mail
account
Competitor 2
1% reduction
for all its unit
prices for
materials

20. Romanian Competition Council 20
FINES
Competitor 1
Competitor 2
more
than 2.5
million €
approx.
0.5
million €

21. Mutual benefits
• Use the specific instruments of each authority
Romanian Competition Council 21
Competition
Council
Prosecutor’s
Office
Technical assistance
Wiretaps, statements