The company Avia Invest, which since 2013 has administered the patrimonial complex of the Chisinau International Airport, was fined 17.48 million lei by the Competition Council for indirectly taking control over Aeroport Handling SRL without notifying the Council, IPN reports.

In a press release, the Competition Council said that an economic concentration operation took place between Avia Invest SRL and Aeroport Handling SRL, which provides ground handling services at the Chisinau International Airport. More exactly, Avia Invest SRL indirectly has taken Aeroport Handling SRL under control in a number of stages since May 2014. The Council ascertained that control was gained by the relationship of economic dependence of Aeroport Handling SRL on Avia Invest SRL.

The move led to the vertical integration of the involved companies and this integration enabled the side that took over to exert pressure on the only contender of Aeroport Handling SRL operating on the ground handling services market.

One month earlier, the Competition Council fined Avia Invest SRL over 31 million lei because this didn’t fulfill a previous decision of 2020, which, besides a fine, envisioned the fulfillment of particular obligations.