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South Korea: Regulator fines 13 builders for bid rigging

By  |  April 27, 2016

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission slapped a combined fine of $357.4 million on 13 local construction companies, including big players such as Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. for colluding in bids worth 3.23 trillion won in state projects for liquefied natural gas (tanks from 2005 to 2012.

The fine is the second largest levied on construction companies for bid rigging following the 435.5 billion won imposed for collusion in Honam expressway construction in July 2014. The antitrust agency also said Tuesday that it was pressing charges for illegal price fixing against the 13 construction firms in LNG tank tenders from state-run Korea Gas Corp. with the prosecution.

According to its finding, the builders took turn in three tenders to win 12 tank bids at a predetermined price, exclusively available to experienced builders due to its specialty field, to save cost in competitive auctions.

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