AGS Agrotrading Ltd - Cyprus Wednesday, 26 February 2014 The Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC) decided to impose a fine on Cyprus Grain Commission amounting to €148.450 regarding the infringement of Section (6)(1)(a) of the protection of Competition law (L.13(I)/2008) in relation to the examination of a complaint filed by AGS Agrotrading Ltd against the Cyprus Grain Commission Following the completion of the hearing process, and after taking into consideration the concerned parties’ written submissions, the CPC evaluated all the evidence before it and unanimously decided at its meeting convened on 29 March 2013, that the Cyprus Grain Commission infringed Section 6(1)(a) of the Protection of Competition Law (hereinafter “the Law”). The subject of the case was the complaint against the Cyprus Grain Commission (no. 11.17.007.60 & 11.17.007.61) filed by AGS Agrotrading Ltd to the CPC on 24 September 2007 και 3 October 2007 for an alleged infringement of Section 6 of the Law, as a result of charging prices below cost regarding the supply of barley for forage use. The CPC, as a result of the Supreme Courts’ decisions no. 3902 (CYTA and the Commission for the Protection of Competition) and no. 1544/09, 1545/2009, 1546/2009 and 1601/2009 (ExxonMobil Cyprus Ltd etc and the Commission for the Protection of Competition), on the 31 January 2012 revoked its previous decisions, since it was decided by the Supreme Court that they have been taken by a non-legally composed administrative body and decided the ab initio examination of the complaint. The CPC, in its meeting held on 31 January 2013, after studying the whole content of the administrative file of the case and the written and oral positions of involved parties, unanimously concluded that the acts of the Cyprus Grain Commission sold barley below average variable costs during December 2007 until May 2008 and October 2008 to December 2008, and this constitutes an abuse of dominant position held in the market, in breach of Section 6(1)(a) of the Law. The CPC, in the light of the written comments of the Cyprus Grain Commission and having regard to the gravity and duration, as well as the nature and gravity of the infringement, and any extenuating circumstances, and in accordance with the procedures laid down in articles 24 (a) (i) and 42 (1) of the Act, unanimously decided on the amount of the administrative fine. The Commission, when considering the amount of the fine, also noted the following: (a) the Cyprus Grain Commission has not committed any other previously infringements of the Law. (b) the Cyprus Grain Commission, stated to the Commission that it had no intention nor sought to hurt competitors and that all of its actions and decisions aimed at creating stable conditions in grain trading and to ensure proficiency in the market for the good of the consumer and the economy in general. (c) the Cyprus Grain Commission proceeded to abuse its dominant position in the relevant market with the sale of barley under the average variable costs. (d) the facts demonstrate that the Cyprus Grain Commission proceeded to sell barley below average variable costs for a period of nine (9) months, from the end of 2007 and for several months in 2008. It is noted that this specific market is characterized by large fluctuations in prices, as the sale price is largely based on international prices of barley. However, in this case, the justification put forward by the Cyprus Grain Commission that its sales prices followed international values are not tenable, because it did not took into account the prices at which the barley was bought during the period under review, as well as other expenses of the business. (e) AGS Agrotrading Ltd, which is a competitor of the Cyprus Grain Commission, suffered throughout the period during which the Cyprus Grain Commission followed this abusive behavior. (f) a large part of its turnover comes from the activity of barley sale. Specifically, in the year 2007 [...]% of the total turnover and in the year 2008 [...]% of the total turnover arose from that activity. Therefore, the CPC, acting on the basis of Section 24 (a) (i) of the Law, concerning the violation of article 6(1)(a) of the Law, unanimously deemed correct and fair under the circumstances, the imposition of an administrative fine to the Cyprus Grain Commission, which amounts to € 148.450. The full text of the decision is posted on the official website of the Committee (www.competition.gov.cy). Posted by Unknown at 03:49 4 comments: Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest Η Επιτροπή Προστασίας του Ανταγωνισμού κήρυξε συμβατή τη συγκέντρωση των εταιρειών AGS Agrotrading Limited, Κύπρος Αντωνίου & Υιός Λτδ και S.G. Katodritis Trading Ltd Στις 30/1/2006 κοινοποιήθηκε προς την Επιτροπή Προστασίας του Ανταγωνισμού (ΕΠΑ) συγκέντρωση των εταιρειών AGS Agrotrading Limited, Κύπρος Αντωνίου & Υιός Λτδ και S.G. Katodritis Trading Ltd, η οποία αφορούσε στη μεταβίβαση όλων των δραστηριοτήτων και περιουσιακών στοιχείων των εταιρειών Κύπρος Αντωνίου & Υιός Λτδ και S.G. Katodritis Trading Ltd στην εταιρεία AGS Agrotrading Limited, δυνάμει συμφωνίας ημερομηνίας 30/1/2006. Η AGS Agrotrading Limited είναι Κυπριακή εταιρεία περιορισμένης ευθύνης, ιδρυμένη από τις εταιρείες Κύπρος Αντωνίου & Υιός Λτδ, S.G. Katodritis Trading Ltd και MD Cyprus Soya Limited ως κοινή επιχείρηση, με κύριες δραστηριότητες την εισαγωγή ζωοτροφών και πρώτων υλών ζωοτροφών, για τις ιδρυτικές της εταιρείες και την υποβολή παραγγελιών στους προμηθευτές στο εξωτερικό, την καταβολή πληρωμής σε αυτούς και την αποθήκευση των εμπορευμάτων. Οι εταιρείες Κύπρος Αντωνίου & Υιός Λτδ και S.G. Katodritis Trading Ltd είναι Κυπριακές εταιρείες περιορισμένης ευθύνης, οι οποίες δραστηριοποιούνται στην αγορά της εισαγωγής, εμπορίας και στη διάθεση σε λιανική βάση στην Κυπριακή αγορά, πρώτων υλών για ζωοτροφές. Η Υπηρεσία της Επιτροπής, αφού αξιολόγησε τα στοιχεία και τις πληροφορίες που προσκόμισαν οι προαναφερόμενες εταιρείες, σύμφωνα με το Παράρτημα ΙΙΙ του Ν. 22(Ι)/99, ετοίμασε σχετική έκθεση την οποία έθεσε ενώπιον της Επιτροπής. Η Επιτροπή, αφού εξέτασε όλα τα ενώπιον της στοιχεία διαπίστωσε ότι, η κοινοποιηθείσα συγκέντρωση δεν προκαλεί σοβαρές αμφιβολίες ως προς το συμβατό της με την ανταγωνιστική αγορά, καθώς δεν δημιουργείται αλλά ούτε και ενισχύεται δεσπόζουσα θέση στις επηρεαζόμενες αγορές και ως εκ τούτου την κηρύσσει συμβατή προς την ανταγωνιστική αγορά. Posted by Unknown at 03:47 2 comments: Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest AGS Agrotrading Ltd - Company Profile COMPANY PROFILE Background/AGS Profile AGS Agrotrading Ltd, is a company with limited liability set up under Cypriot law to carry out operations in the trade of animal and poultry feed raw materials in Cyprus with paid up capital of €1,700,000.= Grain and Proteins Trading Desk is dealing mainly in bulk materials, such as Soybean meal (sbm), Lucerne (alfalfa) meal pellets (aap) and Sunflower meal pellets (sunp), corn, feed wheat, barley, sugar beet pulp, corn gluten feed, wheat bran pellets .Imports of the above materials normally total between 130’000 - 150,000 mt per annum valued at €30,000,000 - €40,000,000 in lots of about 10.000 mt of soybean meal from Argentina and lots of 3 – 5’000 mt of the other bulk products mainly from EU and Black Sea origins and Steel Trading Desk is dealing mainly in Reinforced Iron Steel Bars and Coils and Elecrowelted Wire Mesh which are being imported form Italy, Greece, Ukraine, and Belorussia in 2 – 3,000 mt lot shipments Storage AGS operates a total of 8 flat stores with a total capacity of about 30,000 metric tons and Steel terminal with capacity of 5,000 mt which are Located in Aradippou industrial area and Imports are through Larnaca port. Discharge and Handling Equipment The group owns and operates a variety of heavy equipment used for discharge of goods at the port, loading of trucks and for stowage and loading of goods at the stores the company also acquired in 2008 a VIGAN ship unloader machine with 300 metric tones per hour discharging capacity value €1,2 million which is licensed and operating in Larnaca port – Cyprus. Vassilico Port Area As part of the company’s vertical integration, the company plans to expand its storage and receiving facilities at the VASILIKO port were there are plans to set up its own receiving terminal in a private area of 8,000 sq. meters. Market For over 30 years, shareholders of AGS have built up a wide customer base in Cyprus, consisting of ruminant and pig farmers and poultry meat and table egg farmers ranging from home mixing facilities, to compounding mills and smaller distributors. As of 1st May 2004, grain imports in Cyprus was liberalized AGS expanded it’s import and distribution activities to all of the other grain products such as feed wheat, barley and corn to complement its list of animal feed ingredients and to set up the necessary infrastructure to handle such variety and new volume of products. It should be noted that for the past 60 years the local Government had a monopoly over the trading of grains, both imported and locally produced which has been carried out solely by the Cyprus Grain Commission, a government entity. As of 1st May 04 all such subsidies have abolished and import of such products was liberalized. This presented a unique opportunity to AGS Agrotrading Ltd to consolidate its unquestionable lead in the market, now holding about 35% of the animal feed ingredients (about 150,000mt) with sales turnover for 2013 Euro28.7 million Shareholders AGS is the result of merging of the business of two of the main private importers of animal feed raw materials in Cyprus and each one holds an equal share, these companies are: Kypros Antoniou & Son Ltd - A company owned by the Antoniou family who have been involved in animal feed imports and commodities trading since 1975. The Managing Director, Mr. Antonis Antoniou is 60 years old, has an HND and DBS diploma in business studies from Hammersmith and West London College. He is also a member of the Institute of Marketing and a member of the Institute of Purchasing. Katodritis Bros Ltd - A company owned by Mr. George Katodritis family The Company has been trading in Animal feed raw material imports since 1991. The Managing Director, Mr. George Katodritis is 57 years old and has a BSC degree in Nautical Studies at Liverpool University. He is a MCIT member of the Chartered Institute of Transport, the president of the Cyprus Feed Association and has served in various Senior trading positions with International Grain Trading Companies in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Jebel Ali Free Zone/UAE and finally in Cyprus. Management AGS Agrotrading Ltd is managed by an Executive Board of Directors consisting of the 2 persons , Mr Akis Antoniou E mail aka@agsagro.com and Mr George Katodritis E mail gsk@agsagro.com as well as a further two board members, one each from the shareholding partners Mrs Angeliki Antoniou and mr Stavros Katodritis. AGS operations are supported by the below 2 sister companies:- AGS Steeltrading Ltd Activities: Imports and distribution of Reinforced Iron Steel Bars and Coils and Elecrowelted Wire Mesh The company is managed by Mr George Katodritis E mail agssteel@cytanet.com.cy MEGAMASTER Enterprises Ltd Activities: Bulk handling and stevedoring services The company is managed jointly by Mr Antonis Antoniou and George Katodritis E mail megamaster@cytanet.com.cy Bankers:- The group’s principal Bankers in Cyprus are BANK OF CYPRUS LTD Corporate Banking Division Limassol - Cyprus Mr George Nearchou E mail george.nearchou@cy.bankofcyprus.com Tel: +357 25 855312 Fax:+357 25 583946 Group E mail info@agsagro.com AGS AGROTRADING LTD February 2014 Posted by Unknown at 03:16 3 comments: Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest Home Subscribe to: Posts (Atom) About Me Unknown View my complete profile Blog Archive ▼ 2014 (3) ▼ February (3) The Commission for the Protection of Competition (... Η Επιτροπή Προστασίας του Ανταγωνισμού κήρυξε συμβ... AGS Agrotrading Ltd - Company Profile Simple theme. Powered by Blogger. Deze site gebruikt cookies van Google om services te leveren en verkeer te analyseren. Je IP-adres en user-agent worden met Google gedeeld, samen met prestatie- en beveiligingsstatistieken om servicekwaliteit te garanderen, gebruiksstatistieken te genereren, misbruik te detecteren en maatregelen te treffen.MEER INFORMATIEOK