Brno, 2 July 2025 — The Office for the Protection of Competition has imposed fines exceeding CZK 157 million (USD 6.7 million) on six companies involved in a wide-ranging cartel that rigged bids for public contracts in the railway construction sector.
The companies — ATE s.r.o., AŽD Praha s.r.o., EPLcond a.s., MONZAS a.s., První SaZ Plzeň a.s., and STARMON s.r.o. — were found to have entered into illegal agreements that manipulated bids for contracts involving the repair, modification, and modernization of signaling and security systems at various railway stations and crossings.
The Office described the scheme as a form of bid rigging, combined with market-sharing and price-fixing elements. Typically, the firms would agree on which company would submit the winning bid, while others submitted “cover” bids to ensure the outcome and avoid tender cancellations.
The agreements affected 26 public contracts worth more than CZK 850 million (USD 36 million), all awarded by the State Railways Administration between 2015 and 2021.
The total fines imposed were:
- AŽD Praha s.r.o.: CZK 52,537,000 (USD 2.23 million)
- MONZAS a.s.: CZK 33,738,000 (USD 1.43 million)
- První SaZ Plzeň a.s.: CZK 30,162,000 (USD 1.28 million)
- EPLcond a.s.: CZK 22,770,000 (USD 966,000)
- ATE s.r.o.: CZK 13,048,000 (USD 553,000)
- STARMON s.r.o.: CZK 5,438,000 (USD 230,000)
Two of the fined companies have appealed, so parts of the decision are not yet final.
The investigation was launched following findings by the Supreme Audit Office and was later expanded through on-site inspections and cooperation with one of the cartel members under the Office’s leniency program. Several participants also received reduced fines for implementing compliance programs, which the Office considers under its soft law framework.
This is not the Office’s first crackdown on collusion in the railway security sector. In previous years, it issued final fines totaling CZK 46 million (USD 1.95 million) in two related cases.
