Competition Council launches verifications on eMAG for possible abuse of dominant position on the market

The Competition Council has launched an investigation into a possible abuse of dominant position of Dante International SA, which operates the eMAG online store, the institution informs in a press release. The supposed abuse was reportedly recorded on the mediation market through the online platforms in Romania, hotnews.ro informs.

Dante International is a company specialized in the retail of consumer products. On the other hand, the company owns and manages a ‘marketplace’ platform, through which mediation between retailers and their customers takes place, the Competition Council says.

The investigation is aimed at Dante’s alleged discriminatory behaviour in relation to retailers of consumer products, who are direct competitors to the company, as consumer goods retailer, according to the quoted communiqué.

In the investigation, unannounced inspections have been conducted at the offices of Dante International SA. The unannounced inspections are authorized by the Bucharest Court of Appeals and are justified by the necessity to obtain all the information and documents needed in order to clarify the possible anti-competitive practices.

eMAG registered last year a turnover of RON 2.02 billion in Romania, up by 45 percent year-on-year, Iulian Stanciu, CEO of Dante International, the company operating the largest online retailer in Romania announced on May 10, 2017.

The total revenues of the eMAG Group, which includes eMAG, Fashion Days, PC Garage and Conversion Marketing, amounted to RON 3.12 billion.

At the same time, the investments reached EUR 50 million last year, of which EUR 24 million were for the development of eMAG technology and EUR 23 million – for international expansion. EUR 1 million was invested in logistics development and EUR 2 million in employee development

For 2017, Dante International, the company operating eMAG, had budgeted investments of over EUR 50 million, the expansion abroad focusing mainly on Poland.