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Portuguese court urged to keep huge fine on Galp company

Xinhua, November 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Public prosecutors urged the country's Competition Court on Tuesday to uphold a 9-million-euro (9.5 million U.S. dollars) fine on Portuguese energy company Galp Energia for its anti-competitive practices.

In response to the company's attempt to overturn the fine, prosecutor Anabela Matos Furtado argued that the fine is about 0.11 percent of Galp's annual revenue, which was around 3.5 billion dollars in 2014, and that the fine should actually be increased.

The maximum penalty under this circumstance reportedly could be 10 percent of the company's turnover.

The Competition Committee argued that Galp sold bottled gas units outside its assigned geographical area, but Galp's attorneys denied that restrictions on such an area existed.

Galp's lawyers argued that the authorities' decision was based on a misinterpretation of the rules, saying "interpretation out of context and based on suppositions" of what was contained in a clause in a contract had "no legal basis."

The fine, if enforced, would be the highest paid in Portugal by any company in violation of the competition rules.

The Competition Court of Portugal has not disclosed when or if it will make a decision to uphold the fine. Endi