On 16 August 2025, the Supreme Court confirmed the infringement of competition law by “Fertilitatea – Chișinău” JSC. The undertaking was sanctioned for participating in an anticompetitive agreement involving the fixing of resale prices for plant protection products and Bayer-branded fertilizers during the period 2015–2018.

The Supreme Court upheld the Decision of the Competition Council as of 26 March 2021, considering it lawful, well-reasoned, and compliant with the standard of proof required in competition matters. Through this decision, the Council established the existence of a concerted practice between “Fertilitatea – Chișinău” JSC and other undertakings active on the market –“Agrostoc” CÎ, “Bioprotect” LLC and “Diazchim” LLC – consisting in the fixing of prices and other trading conditions for the sale of Bayer branded plant protection products.

The anti-competitive agreements were implemented through the exchange of sensitive information between competitors, including email communications identified during inspections carried out by the Competition Council. Such practices of coordinating market conduct constitute serious infringements of competition law and qualify as a hardcore cartel.

Given that this concerted practice was found to be harmful to both competition and consumers – as also noted by the Supreme Court – led to the fixing of prices that were 28–43% higher on the Moldovan market compared to neighbouring markets in Romania and Ukraine. This situation had a direct negative impact on both final consumers and domestic economic operators.

Taking into account the gravity and the duration of the infringement, the Competition Council imposed a fine of 7,531,622 MDL on “Fertilitatea – Chișinău” JSC, which has already been paid by the undertaking.

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