South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has fined KEPCO KDN and Exem a total of KRW 39 million ($29,000) for colluding in a public procurement bid issued by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO).
The investigation revealed that KEPCO KDN, a KEPCO subsidiary, conspired with Exem to manipulate the bidding process for the purchase of storage materials for unstructured data expansion. Exem participated as a cover bidder to ensure KEPCO KDN secured the contract.
The collusion led to KEPCO KDN winning the bid at KRW 969.1 million ($716,000), while Exem submitted a slightly higher bid to feign competition. The bid-rigging arrangement was agreed upon in a meeting between representatives of both companies in October 2022.
KFTC emphasized that such bid-rigging schemes lead to the misallocation of public funds and warned that it will continue to monitor and penalize anticompetitive practices in public tenders.
