EU slaps Sasol with fine of €318m

SA petrochemical giant intends to appeal the ruling S outh African petrochemical giant Sasol said Friday that it would pay a 318-million euro fine from the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), for its role in a paraffin wax cartel but plans to appeal the penalty.

Sasol was handed the biggest fine of a total 676 million euros (936 million dollars) levied by the commission on Wednesday against paraffin wax producers including Exxonmobil and Total. “We will provide for the full amount of the fine,” Sasol chief executive Pat Davies told a media briefing.”The provisions will be immediately put in place for the current financial year.”Grounds to appeal would be decided once the company receives the commission’s detailed reasonings, Davies said.”We admit that there was a cartel and we admit that some of our employees were involved in part of the cartel.So obviously we cannot appeal against that,” he said.”Clearly the magnitude of the fine is one of things that we want to understand.If we find that we have no grounds of appeal to take on the fine, then we won’t appeal.As we see things now, we intend to appeal.”Davies said the money would be raised from Sasol’s internal treasury and the fine should not hamper future growth due the company’s strong balance sheet and cash flow.”Fortunately Sasol is a successful company,” he said.”Given our financial strength, we don’t see this impacting on our future growth plans.”Davies said the company did not agree with the commission’s labelling it as the leader of the cartel which has been dubbed the “paraffin mafia”.”We have a difference of opinion there,” he said, adding that it was the biggest producer of the group of companies.The European Commission found that members of Europes’s paraffin wax industry, including Sasol, formed a cartel and violated antitrust laws.The fine of 318.2 million euros is payable within three months.”We regret that this has occurred in one of Sasol’s subsidiaries and …failed to identify this anti-competitive behaviour,” Davies said.Shell escaped a fine under the whistle-blower rule, which applies to companies that help EU competition authorities to uncover a cartel.The fine for Sasol was increased by 50 per cent “because it was the leader of the cartel,” the commission said.US giant ExxonMobil received an 83.5-million-euro fine with smaller penalties going to fellow cartel members Repsol of Spain, Italy’s ENI, Tudapetrol, Hansen and Rosenthaland and RWE of Germany, French Total and MOL of Hungary.AFP”We will provide for the full amount of the fine,” Sasol chief executive Pat Davies told a media briefing.”The provisions will be immediately put in place for the current financial year.”Grounds to appeal would be decided once the company receives the commission’s detailed reasonings, Davies said.”We admit that there was a cartel and we admit that some of our employees were involved in part of the cartel.So obviously we cannot appeal against that,” he said.”Clearly the magnitude of the fine is one of things that we want to understand.If we find that we have no grounds of appeal to take on the fine, then we won’t appeal.As we see things now, we intend to appeal.”Davies said the money would be raised from Sasol’s internal treasury and the fine should not hamper future growth due the company’s strong balance sheet and cash flow.”Fortunately Sasol is a successful company,” he said.”Given our financial strength, we don’t see this impacting on our future growth plans.”Davies said the company did not agree with the commission’s labelling it as the leader of the cartel which has been dubbed the “paraffin mafia”.”We have a difference of opinion there,” he said, adding that it was the biggest producer of the group of companies.The European Commission found that members of Europes’s paraffin wax industry, including Sasol, formed a cartel and violated antitrust laws.The fine of 318.2 million euros is payable within three months.”We regret that this has occurred in one of Sasol’s subsidiaries and …failed to identify this anti-competitive behaviour,” Davies said.Shell escaped a fine under the whistle-blower rule, which applies to companies that help EU competition authorities to uncover a cartel.The fine for Sasol was increased by 50 per cent “because it was the leader of the cartel,” the commission said.US giant ExxonMobil received an 83.5-million-euro fine with smaller penalties going to fellow cartel members Repsol of Spain, Italy’s ENI, Tudapetrol, Hansen and Rosenthaland and RWE of Germany, French Total and MOL of Hungary.AFP