Ramstor Macedonia fined €20,000 as court upholds sanction
Administrative Court confirmed the Commission's decision over data-sharing fees charged to suppliers; personal fine of €350 for Daniela Ademoska.
Ramstor Macedonia failed to overturn a sanction imposed by the Commission for Protection of Competition and must pay a fine of 20.000 euros for applying unfair trading practices toward its suppliers, the Administrative Court found.
Decision, fines and the sums involved
The court rejected Ramstor's lawsuit as unfounded, upholding the Commission's finding that the retailer charged additional fees through separate data-sharing agreements with Pivara Skopje and VV Tikvesh. The Commission also imposed a personal fine of 350 euros on the responsible person, Daniela Ademoska.
During the investigation the Commission established that Ramstor charged 1.787.700 denars from VV Tikvesh and 820.659 denars from Pivara Skopje. The total extra charges reached 2.608.359 denars, equivalent to more than 42.000 euros.
The Commission concluded that those payments violated the Law on Prohibition of Unfair Trading Practices in the Supply Chain for Agricultural and Food Products, which requires that commercial terms and all fees be clearly defined in supply contracts. The law forbids suppliers from being obliged to pay charges not directly related to the sale of their goods and prohibits certain market-research fees.
Ramstor argued in court that the disputed contracts were voluntary, concluded in writing at the suppliers' initiative, and intended to provide statistical and market data requested by business partners. The company added that Pivara Skopje and VV Tikvesh had greater economic power and that the retailer had not imposed conditions. Ramstor also said that contract annexes signed in September 2025 adjusted the fees to comply with legal limits.
The Commission maintained that voluntary consent between business partners does not rule out the existence of unfair trading practices, that statutory prohibitions apply regardless of parties' economic power, and that creating separate agreements cannot be used to circumvent legal obligations. It also held that later contract amendments cannot erase a breach already committed. After reviewing evidence and arguments, the Administrative Court concluded the Commission lawfully conducted the procedure and properly imposed sanctions. The court dismissed the claims by Ramstor Macedonia and the responsible person and denied the request for reimbursement of litigation costs in the amount of 15.225 denars.
The judgment was delivered on 14 October 2026 and published on the Commission's official website on 30 October 2026.
Photo: Ilustracija (AI)
