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S. Korean refiners slapped with massive penalty for price fixing
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean appellate court on Wednesday ordered four oil refiners to pay 196 billion won (US$168.5 million) in compensation to the government for damages caused by their price collusion for military procurement.
The lawsuit against SK Energy Co., GS Caltex Corp., Hyundai Oilbank Co. and S-Oil Corp. was filed by the Ministry of Defense in 2001 after the nation's fair trade regulators found that they had fixed high prices for military procurement from 1998-2000.
In the ruling Wednesday, the Seoul High Court said the oil refiners must pay 130.9 billion won plus interest for the past nine years to the ministry, totaling 196 billion won.
"The oil refiners should take responsibility for damages caused by their collusion (by paying) compensation," the court said in the ruling.
The ruling was seen as a partial victory for the ministry, which sought 158.4 billion won and interest.
Seven years after the lawsuit was filed, a lower court ordered the oil refiners to pay 81 billion won in compensation. At the time, the amount of compensation was based on the assumption that they didn't engage in collusion.
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