Strabag cartel fine more than trebles to €146m after leniency status unravels

At the request of Austria’s Federal Competition Authority (AFCA), the 11 March ruling in the Vienna Higher Regional Court added €100.63m to a fine of €45.37m imposed in October 2021 because further investigations found that Strabag had failed to disclose three other cartel-related construction projects it was involved in, thus violating its obligations as an applicant for leniency in the case.

The court announced its decision here (launches as a PDF).

Seventeen construction firms in Austria have now been fined as a result of AFCA’s antitrust investigation that began in the spring of 2017 into cartel activity affecting thousands of projects across the structural and civil engineering sector, in particular road building.

Its probe has involved dawn raids, interviews, and the seizure of some 70,000 paper documents and 57 terabytes of electronic files.

As of August 2025, fines totaling €192,905,000 had been levied on the companies involved.

Until this month, the biggest fine – €62.35m – had been the one levied on PORR Group, but the 11 March ruling on Strabag sends it to the top of the table for now.

Appeal to Supreme Court

AFCA had to fight to have Strabag’s case reopened. After the October 2021 decision, AFCA became aware of new facts as a result of criminal investigations by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Economic Affairs, and asked the Cartel Court to re-evaluate the October 2021 decision.

The Cartel Court rejected the request, so AFCA and the Federal Cartel Prosecutor appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice, which upheld their appeal in June 2023. This was described as one of the most important decisions for Austrian antitrust enforcement of the last 10 years.

“The leniency programme under cartel law has been very successful and has contributed to the uncovering of numerous cartels,” said Federal Cartel Prosecutor Heinz Majer at the time.

“However, it requires companies to fully cooperate with the AFCA. The Supreme Court has now confirmed this requirement.”

10% of company turnover

In 2021, AFCA had recommended a reduced fine for Strabag because it seemed to be cooperating as a leniency applicant. Ahead of this month’s ruling, however, AFCA asked for the maximum fine, which is 10% of the company’s total turnover in the preceding business year.

Responding to this month’s ruling, Strabag said it decided to enter into the settlement because it “avoids a further lengthy court procedure and brings to a close the cartel proceedings”.

“Notwithstanding the concessions made as part of the settlement and loss of leniency-for-testimony status, the fact remains that Strabag AG cooperated extensively with the Federal Competition Authority and made a significant contribution to clarifying the facts of the case,” the company said.

It said that despite the increase in the fine, it is maintaining its current earnings guidance for 2025 and 2026.

The company added that it’s the first Austrian company operating internationally to obtain group-wide certification under ISO 37001, an anti-bribery management framework, and ISO 37301, a management compliance system.