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The Antitrust starts a preliminary investigation in order to verify the presence of a trust between the companies Moby, Snav, Great the Navi Veloci and Sardinia Ferries
The prices for the transport fleeting da/per the Sardinia have quickly increase in average of the 90-110% regarding 2010
May 17, 2011
The Guarantor Authority of the Competition and Market (AGCM) has started a preliminary investigation regarding the societies Moby, Snav, Large Navi Veloci (GNV) and Forship (brand Sardinia Ferries) and of theirs controlling in order to verify if they have placed in being a restrictive understanding of the competition finalized to the co-ordinate increase of the prices for the transport fleeting da/per the Sardinia, prices that, second the outcomes of the lead preliminary analyses from the offices of the Antitrust - it has explained the Authority - have quickly increase in average of the 90-110% regarding 2010.
The provision of start of the preliminary investigation of the AGCM, that we publish below, is notified today in the course of inspections lead with the Special Nucleus Protection Markets of the Customs corps near the four societies object of the investigation, that they constitute the main active operators on the routes interested from the increases and - has remembered the AGCM - of it they represent a substantial part, not inferior to 75% in terms of frequencies and 60% in terms of passengers.
The preliminary investigation will have to verify in particular if the increase generalized and meaningful of the prices of the services of marine transport on the connections da/per Civitavecchia, Livorno and Genoa a/da Olbia-Gulf Aranci and Porto Torres in summery period 2011 is the result of a finalized understanding to avoid a correct one confronts competitive on these routes.
The AGCM has specified that the start of the investigation is decided to light of the numerous signallings arrived to the Authority from private citizens, associations of the consumers and from the Regions Sardinia and Liguria that denounced meaningful increments of the relative prices to summery period 2011.
The decision of the Antitrust is received with favor from the Liguria Region. The from Liguria regional city council member to the Transports, Enrico Vesco, than past weeks with the colleague of Tourism, Angelo Berlangieri had written a letter to the president of the AGCM Catricalà in order to place to its attention the problem of the increase of the rates of the ferries, has expressed "satisfaction for the participation of the guarantor of the competition, Antonio Catricalà, in response to our letter on the remarkable increases to the rates of the ferries for the practiced Sardinia of the next summer from some companies". "The answer of the guarantor to our letter - Vesco has said - has not been made to attend, the case is taken in consideration and is opened the preliminary investigation. To this point the auspice, sight the imminence of the summery season, is that our positions shared from other territorial truths, are genoese that Sardinian, they can be recognized and translate itself in a review of the rates. Moreover - it has added Vesco - we are moving also with the Sardinia Region in order to try to obtain a meaningful result on the front of the discouragement of the prices".
In the first letter sent from the city council members to the transports and tourism of the Liguria Region to Catricalà the presence of a trust came marked "that has been created between the companies that carry out the service of connection with the Sardinia that has seen the increase consisting of the prices for this summer". "On the contrary of the slid years, in which a race to the low-cost had happened in order to try to maintain to the lower prices - Vesco and Berlangieri had written - this year not has been no competition and the prices strongly are increased".
THE GUARANTOR AUTHORITY OF THE COMPETITION AND THE MARKET
IN ITS ASSEMBLY of 11 May 2011;
FELT the Reporter Professore Carla Bedogni Rabitti;
SEEN article 101 of the Treaty on the Operation of European Union (TFUE);
SEEN Regolamento n. 1/2003 of the Council on December 16, 2002, concerning the application of the rules of competition of which to article 101 and 102 of the TFUE;
SEEN the signallings reached between on 17 January and 11 May 2011 by private citizens, Altroconsumo, Camper van, Codacons, National Union Consumers, Association for the defense and guideline consumers, I want To live, Adiconsum, the Ministry of Infrastructures and the transports, the Sardinia Region and the Liguria Region;
SEEN the actions of the procedure;
CONSIDERED how much follows:
I. PARTI
1. Moby S.p.A. (below, Moby) is controlled with a quota 52.63% about from Honored Participation S.r.l. Moby is at the head of a mainly active group in the field of the marine transport of line of passengers and in the field of the marine transport of line of used rubberizing vehicles from road haulage enterprises that cure the shipment of goods in national within. In particular, Moby is active in the connections da/per the Sardinia and with the Elbano archipelago. Moby work, indirectly, also in the fields of the harbor tug, the towing offshore, the marine rescue and the services antifire and antipollution.
Moby controls the following societies: Lloyd Sardegna Compagnia di Navigazione S.r.l., San Cataldo S.p.A., Sicilian S.p.A. Rescues, Moby Lines Europe Gmbh.
From consolidated financial statement, it turns out that in the 2009 turnover realized by Moby in Italy it has been of about 250 million euros.
2. Large the Navi Veloci S.p.A. (below, GNV) is a society controlled jointly from Marinvest S.r.l. (below Marinvest) and from Associate Investor SGR S.p.A. (below IA), than work in the field of the marine transports of line of passengers and rubberized vehicles, let alone in the field of the organization and management of travels from cruise.
The turnover realized from GNV in 2008 has been little advanced to 310 million euros, realized almost exclusively in Italy.
3. SNAV S.p.A. (below, SNAV), controlled entirely from Marinvest, work in the marine transport almost exclusively of passengers on several routes inside of the Mediterranean, included the transport da/per the Sardinia.
The turnover realized from SNAV in Italy in 2008 has been of about 110 million euros.
4. Forship S.p.A. (below, Forship), controlled from the society by right French Lota Maritime S.A. (below, Lota) lend services of transport of people and means in the Mediterranean with the commercial brand "Corsica Ferries Sardinia Ferries", in particular da/per the Sardinia.
Forship manages moreover, near the harbour area of Savona-Go, fleeting a terminal dedicated to the traffic and goods for Ro-Ro ferries.
Forship has realized in Italy, in 2009, a turnover pairs to about 137 million euros.
II. THE FACT
a) The denunciations
5. In recent months the Authority has received numerous signallings in which the important and contextual increases are complained of the prices that would be introduced by the private operators who offer to the service of marine transport da/per the Sardinia in departure/arrival from the Italian peninsula. In particular, draft of the marine connections da/per Civitavecchia, Livorno and Genoa a/da Olbia-Gulf Aranci and Porto Torres.
1
The signalling has reached in date 19 January 2011 successively integrated in date 1° April 2011.
2
The signallings have reached in date 10 March 2011.
3
These last ones have sent to a combined signalling in date 9 March 2011.
4
The signalling has reached in date 11 February 2011 successively integrated in date 29 19 March and last April.
5
The Liguria Region has sent to a signalling reached in date 5 May 2011, the Sardinia Region a denunciation in date 4 February successively integrated several times last in date 19 April 2011.
6. The majority of the signallings is sent by private citizens; other denunciations come from associations of the consumers (Altroconsumo1, Adiconsum and National Association I want To live2, Adoc, Codacons, defended Movement of the citizen, National Union Consumers3). The Ministry of Infrastructures and Transports4 has many times over transmitted to the Authority the numerous signallings received from private citizens. Ulterior denunciations are introduced of the Sardinia Region and by the Region Liguria5.
7. All the signallings agree on the amplitude of the price increases, that they would turn out in average advanced to 60% (as found last from the Sardinia Region), with tips of 100% or the advanced ones (as complained from various denouncing, than in some cases they report of advanced increases also to 150%). Analogous percentages are brought back by numerous articles of print that they have dealt the issue in the past few months. Some denunciations complain, also, the generalized one and almost uniform to fail of the promotional offers applied from the majority of the companies in the last seasons.
8. The denunciations assume that the increases of the prices we are I yield of a coordination between the main active private operators on the routes da/per the Sardinia.
b) The increase of the prices in summery period 2011
6
Cfr. signallings and answers to the demands for information reached between March and May 2011.
9. By evidences today available6 it is emerged that the final prices of the services of fleeting transport of line are calculated, analogous to how much it happens in other sections of the tourist field (hotel, aerial transport, etc) with criteria of c.d. “revenue management” and such for which the final prices practiced to the consumers they depend on establish quotas conditions of the supply and demand at the moment of the reservation. Consequently, the final price of the transport can vary from day to day according to the values assumed from the various used parameters in order to take into consideration the various members of the service (number of passengers, place in cabin, place in seat, car to the continuation, animals, etc); of the date and the timetable previewed for the departure (eg. week days or weekend, lowland or peak season); of the state of the occupation of the spaces on board to the action of the reservation (eg. if still availability of cabins is elevated, the price for this service will be smaller).
10. The final price so constituted is integrated then by additional between which the bunker surcharge, that it reflects the course of the cost of the fuel, the harbour member of volatil price, costs for safety and burdens. From declarations of it prints, the recorded increments of price for summery period 2011 would be riconducibili, in particular, to the meaningful increase recorded from the price of the fuel.
11. It does not exist, therefore, a real accessible price list to the consumers, that it can be used in order to for a year confront the prices practiced between operators and to the other. Since, moreover, it confronts on the consolidated medium revenues between 2011 and 2010 they are not possible, they are elaborated, for every company, and for determined days of the months of june-August, esteem relatively to a hypothetical purchase of service of transport for two people with car to the continuation and accommodation (cabin) comprised all the eventual extra expenses (assurance, meal, expenses of agency, etc) to be confronted for a year to the other.
12. The first elaborations confirm a general increment of prices so as denounced. Regarding 2010, all the interested operators have practiced sensitive increases of the prices - of the order of the 90-110% in average regarding the year precedence - on the routes interested from the denunciations (marine connections da/per Civitavecchia, Genoa and Livorno a/da Olbia-Gulf Aranci and Porto Torres). In the plank who follows is brought back the variations of the applied medium increments in the 2011 from the single operators regarding the period precedence, as well as the average prices applied in the two periods of observation.
Table 1: I confront average prices 2010/2011 in value and %
Company
Average prices 2010
Average prices 2011
Variation % of the prices 2011-2010 (with extra)
Forship “Sardinia Ferries”
80-100€
140-160€
130-150%
Moby
110-130€
200-220€
90-110%
GNV
180-200€
250-270€
50-60%
SNAV
90-110€
190-210€
80-100%
Total
120-140€
190-210€
90-110%
Elaborations on data supplied from the Parts in response to demands for information on 24 February, 31 March and 22 April 2011.
III. THE APPRAISALS
a) The important markets
13. In the first place, it is observed that in the regarding cases understandings, the definition of the important market is essentially time to characterize the characteristics of the economic and legal context in which the possible coordination between concurrent enterprises is placed.
14. If of species, the presumed coordination between competitors signalling object interests the activity of marine transport of line of passengers through ferries and/or hydrofoils, with or without vehicles rubberized to the continuation, carried out from the operators interested on several drafts da/per the Sardinia. According to a consolidated guideline of the Authority, the service of marine transport of line of passengers, with or without vehicles rubberized to the continuation, that it commutes between two ports to frequent and regular cadences, anticipates characteristic such to characterize a market of the produced one distinguished regarding all the other modalities of marine transport of goods. As for the geographic dimension of the market, this is given by the single served draft or bundles of routes between ports considered sostituibili from the point of view of the question.
15. If of species, the important markets are characterized in relation to the overlap between the various operators interested on the interested routes and of the degree of sostituibilità between the ports. This saying, since in via preliminary matter the Sardinian ports of Olbia and Golfo Aranci can be considered sostituibili from the side of the question, to the aims of anticipates famous characterizes the following important markets: Civitavecchia-Olbia/Golfo Aranci, Genoa-Olbia, Livorno-Olbia/Golfo Aranci and Genoa/Port-Torres.
16. The following table report a first estimates of the market position of the operating presents in the important markets in 2010, is in terms of number of fleeting ships that lend the transport service (the frequency, understanding as ability indicator) are of transported passengers.
Table 2: Market shares of the operators interested in the important markets (frequencies, june-July 2010)
Important market
Moby
SNAV
GNV
Forship “Sardinia Ferries”
Tirrenia
Civitavecchia-Olbia/Golfo Aranci
35-40%
25-30%
15-20%
15-20%
Torres Genoa-port
35-40%
40-45%
20-25%
Genoa-Olbia
45-50%
-
40-45%
-
10-15%
Livorno-Olbia/Golfo Aranci
55-60%
40-45%
Cfr. Elaborations AGCM on data transmitted from the parts in response to demands for information
Table 3: Market shares of the operators interested in the important markets (fleeting, june-July 2010)
Important market
Moby
SNAV
GNV
Forship “Sardinia Ferries”
Tirrenia
Civitavecchia-Olbia/Golfo Aranci
35-40%
15-20%
10-15%
30-35%
Torres Genoa-port
35-40%
30-35%
30-35%
Genoa-Olbia
50-55%
40-45%
5-10%
Livorno-Olbia/Golfo Aranci
60-65%
35-40%
Cfr. Elaborations AGCM on data transmitted from the parts in response to demands for information
17. With regard to Tirrenia, it is observed that it is currently in course the process of privatization of the society. Marinvest, Honored Participation and Grimaldi Company of S.p.A Navigation has constituted, to end 2010, a common enterprise - the Italian Company of Navigation S.r.l. (below CIN) – to the aims of the presentation of a combined offer for the acquisition of Tirrenia. The three societies stop joint quotas in CIN.
b) The qualification of the fattispecie
18. The numerous signallings reached the Authority denounce meaningful increments of the prices on the services of marine transport da/per the Sardinia in summery period 2011. The lead preliminary analyses on dynamics of the prices of the operating private companies contextually on the important markets, appear to confirm a generalized increment of the prices practiced from such operators, estimated medium increment in the order of the 90-110% regarding the prices of the year precedence.
19. Sul point, is necessary to specify that the majority of the revenues is realized in the summery period; therefore, since a parallelism in the increases of the prices by all is observed active the private operators in the important markets, is considered reasonable that such operators have placed in being the aforesaid tariff increments in forecast of summery season 2011.
20. That premised one, is not possible to exclude that the increase of the prices recorded on the connections da/per the Sardinia is not alone yields of independent decisions, but is rather riconducibile to a coordination of the commercial conducts between market operators.
21. The interested companies, also to means print, have justified the increments of the prices introduced for summery season 2011, in particular, with the important increase of the price of the fuel. The entity of the increase would have been such to induce the companies to rethink also own politics of promotions, reducing the number of places available to reduced prices.
In merit it is observed that the translation to valley of objective increases of cost, in itself legitimate if I yield of independent conducts, shapes illicit a competitive one whereby is the result of a coordination of the parts. It is evidenced, among other things, than the same operators who distribute transport services da/per the Sardinia they are active also in other routes (between which for example connections with the Sicily) and that, on these, they would not seem to have equally transferred the aforesaid increments of cost on the final prices.
22. The lead cited ones - increase generalized and meaningful of the prices of the services of marine transport on the connections da/per Civitavecchia, Livorno and Genoa a/da Olbia-Gulf Aranci and Porto Torres in summery period 2011 - could therefore be the result of an understanding, as agreement and/or practical agreed, finalized to avoid a correct one I confront competitive on the aforesaid connections.
23. The understanding in its complex appears to integrate requirement of the consistency, considering that the enterprises involved in the illicit one represent the main active operators in the important markets and of it they represent a substantial part, not inferior to 75% in terms of frequencies and 60% in terms of transported passengers.
24. The understanding, therefore, is susceptible of examination according to article 101 of the TFUE.
c) The applicabilità of the communitarian right
28. The described conducts over are potentially suitable to prejudice the intracomunitario commerce and, therefore, they appear to integrate the ends of an infraction to article 101 of the TFUE.
It is considered that the understanding in question regards the services of marine transport for passengers da/per the Sardinia, that represents one of the main tourist destinations in the Mediterranean, operated from shipowners pertaining to groups of dimension is national that international.
Consequently, the fattispecie object of anticipates procedure, appearing suitable to bring prejudice to the commerce between Member States, must be estimated according to article 101 of the TFUE.
CONSIDERED, therefore, that the conducts over described, placed in being from Honored Participation, Moby, Marinvest, IA, GNV, SNAV, Lota and Forship “Sardinia Ferries”, they are susceptible to shape a restrictive understanding of the competition in the markets of the services of the marine transports for passengers, in violation of article 101 of the TFUE;
DELIBERATION
a) the start of the preliminary investigation, according to article 14 of the law n. 287/90, regarding the societies Onorato Partecipazioni S.r.l., Moby S.p.A., Marinvest S.p.A., Investitori Associati SGR S.p.A., Grandi Navi Veloci S.p.A., SNAV S.p.A., Lota Maritime S.A and Forship S.p.A., in order to assess the existence of violations of article 101 of the TFUE;
b) the fixation of the term of days sixty, passing from the notification of anticipates provision, for the exercise by the representatives lawyers of the Part, or of people from it delegates, the right of being felt, specifying that the demand for audition will have to reach the Agricultural and food- Direction “and Transports” of the Head office for competition of this Authority at least fifteen days before the expiration of the indicated term over;
c) that in charge of the procedure it is the Dott.ssa Stefania Di Girolamo;
d) that the actions of the procedure can be taken in vision near the Agricultural and food- Direction “and Transports” of the Head office for competition of this Authority from the lawyers representatives of the Part or from people from it delegated;
e) that the procedure must be concluded within on October 28, 2012.
Provision anticipates will be notified to the subjects interested and published in the bulletin of the Guarantor Authority of the Competition and the Market.
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The Guarantor Authority of the Competition and Market (AGCM) has started a preliminary investigation regarding the societies Moby, Snav, Large Navi Veloci (GNV) and Forship (brand Sardinia Ferries) and of theirs controlling in order to verify if they have placed in being a restrictive understanding of the competition finalized to the co-ordinate increase of the prices for the transport fleeting da/per the Sardinia, prices that, second the outcomes of the lead preliminary analyses from the offices of the Antitrust - it has explained the Authority - have quickly increase in average of the 90-110% regarding 2010.
- Via Raffaele Paolucci 17r/19r - 16129 Genoa - ITALY
