Competition Authority Fines Viking Kağıt Nearly 9 Million TL in Settlement Case

According to the decision dated April 18, 2024, numbered 24-19/407-M, the investigation regarding whether Viking Kağıt ve Selüloz Sanayi ve Ticaret AŞ violated Article 4 of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition by determining the resale prices of its buyers has been completed.

During the investigation process, the settlement proposal submitted by Viking Kağıt ve Selüloz Sanayi ve Ticaret AŞ was accepted by the Competition Authority's decision dated November 7, 2024, numbered 24-45/1059-451, and the investigation was concluded through settlement.

In a statement from the Competition Authority, the following information was provided: "In this context, Viking Kağıt ve Selüloz Sanayi ve Ticaret AŞ has admitted to engaging in actions aimed at setting resale prices for its buyers, thereby violating Article 4 of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition. Due to the conclusion of the investigation by means of settlement, a 15% reduction was applied to the administrative monetary fine, resulting in an administrative fine of 9,073,292.11 TL imposed on Viking Kağıt ve Selüloz Sanayi ve Ticaret AŞ.

Viking Kağıt operates in the cleaning products market, producing and selling toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, wet wipes, cologne, box tissues, and pocket tissues under the brands Lily, Terra, Senso, Pufla, Select, Select Nature, and Green4u.

As is known, with the amendment introduced by Law No. 7246 dated June 16, 2020, to the fifth paragraph of Article 43 of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition, the settlement procedure has been included in competition law regulations. Upon request from the parties or ex officio, the Authority can initiate the settlement procedure, considering the procedural benefits that could arise from the swift conclusion of the investigation and any disagreements regarding the existence or scope of the violation, and it can decide to conclude the investigation."