Rail friends

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As a "rail Friends" (later rail cartel ) was a cartel called that by 2011 prices and volumes on the German market for railway tracks has denied.

According to investigation files, the cartel is said to have existed since the early 1980s. It became public knowledge in early July 2011. According to its own internal documents, Deutsche Bahn alone paid one billion euros too much due to the cartel. Numerous municipal transport companies were also damaged.

structure

Voestalpine was the leader of the cartel, which was divided into a dealer and a producer level . The composition of the cartel changed over the years. Major players remained Voestalpine, Thyssen-Krupp and Corus (later Tata Steel ).

The cartel participants met several times a year at different locations. The cartel was divided into four zones (north, south, east, west). According to the results of the investigation, the cartel brothers met 15 to 20 times a year in western Germany. In the north, Thyssen-Krupp, Klöckner Bahnechnik and another company would have divided up three to four major orders per year. In addition to meetings in upscale restaurants, at least 35 visits to brothels between 2005 and 2009 are documented. Hamburg Airport and a hotel in Bottrop are documented as further meeting points . A managing director of the Voestalpine involved billed these visits via Voestalpine's company accounts. In addition, other employees of this company would have charged brothel visits as entertainment. The participants in the sex orgies are said to have included members of the cartel as well as employees of municipal companies. The participants had recorded the agreed quantities and prices in Excel tables. According to statements from those involved, details were negotiated and measures discussed in regular meetings to keep competitors out of the market. The alliance is said to have existed for several decades.

The cartel was broken in 2008 when ArcelorMittal significantly undercut the cartel's prices for deliveries to Deutsche Bahn and became Deutsche Bahn's largest rail supplier. The prices for railroad tracks fell in the following years. Until the cartel was uncovered, prices and quantities were agreed at the expense of other railway infrastructure companies. The municipal transport companies that have been damaged include, in particular, Stadtwerke München , Bremer Straßenbahn AG , Hamburger Hochbahn and the Berlin and Leipzig transport companies . The other damaged companies included the municipal transport companies in Erfurt, Gotha, Halle (Saale), Jena, Magdeburg, Rostock and Schwerin. The Harz narrow-gauge railway was also damaged.

The damage to Deutsche Bahn alone is said to have amounted to 100 million annually with a turnover of 200 to 300 million euros per year. The company is the largest customer of rails in Europe.

history

According to a media report, the cartel has existed since the 1950s. In the beginning it was a loose alliance in which only delivery quantities were agreed, but prices were also set later. According to investigation files, however, the cartel had existed since the early 1980s. The core of the cartel was Thyssen-Krupp and Voestalpine . Since at least the mid-1990s, prices and quantities have been agreed on the German rail market. According to a media report, prices for switches have also been agreed.

Voestalpine had become a major rail supplier on the German market in the early 2000s with the purchase of Klöckner Bahnechnik. As recently as 2010, Thyssen-Krupp is said to have tried to integrate new providers into the cartel that were pushing into the market.

It was discovered through an anonymous report and a voluntary report by Voestalpine (early March 2011). Voestalpine first investigated internally and then informed the Federal Cartel Office .

On May 11 and 12, 2011, 43 investigators from the Bochum public prosecutor's office , the Federal Cartel Office and the criminal police searched the offices of ten steel companies at the same time. Voestalpine, Thyssen-Krupp, Stahlberg Roensch and CMC Trinec were affected. In mid-August 2011, further searches followed in three private apartments. At that time, 30 companies and 90 people were investigated.

At the beginning of July 2012, the Federal Cartel Office concluded the proceedings of the cartel formed at the expense of Deutsche Bahn. The authority imposed fines of 124.5 million euros. Thyssen-Krupp accounted for 103 million euros, Vossloh for 13 million euros and two subsidiaries of Voestalpine for a total of 8.5 million euros. The sentence was reduced due to the cooperation between the companies involved and the authorities. Voestalpine benefited from its position as a key witness. In addition, a second procedure is ongoing regarding agreements that had affected the rest of the market. Based on the information provided by Thyssen-Krupp, the company's fine was significantly reduced.

Legal processing

Thyssen-Krupp announced in December 2012 that it would sue the formerly responsible division director for 103 million euros. The manager, who said he knew nothing about the cartel, was released early in 2011 as a result of the cartel in return for a severance payment of 2.5 million euros. The company fired a total of more than a dozen employees involved in the price fixing and sued them. The claim against two former divisional directors was 300 million euros in 2015. One of the two had already been convicted in the 2000s of bribing a railroad employee responsible for buying the rails and was then still responsible as a divisional director (among other things) for business with the railways.

Deutsche Bahn and the local transport companies concerned have claims for damages from the cartel . According to estimates by Deutsche Bahn, the company's claim for damages amounts to 500 million euros. Negotiations had been going on for several months in mid-2012. The municipal transport companies agree on the Association of German Transport Companies.

In December 2012, Deutsche Bahn brought an action for damages in the amount of 550 million euros (plus 300 million euros in interest) against three companies involved in the cartel (Thyssen-Krupp, Moravia Steel , Vossloh) before the Frankfurt am Main regional court . Talks about an out-of-court settlement with the three companies remained inconclusive, according to Deutsche Bahn, and were partly broken off by the companies (as of December 2012). On the other hand, discussions about compensation continued between Voestalpine and Deutsche Bahn. Most of the possible compensation is to flow back into the public purse.

From the end of 2011, Deutsche Bahn held confidential talks with Thyssen-Krupp. The steel group had set up a provision of 30 million euros for receivables in excess of the 103 million euros initially paid. According to Thyssen-Krupp, it does not want to assert a limitation period for claims for damages for certain periods of time. Voestalpine made a provision of 200 million euros. Thyssen-Krupp set up a provision of 207 million euros in connection with the 2013 cartel.

After an agreement that became known in April 2013, Voestalpine pays Deutsche Bahn around 50 million euros in damages as part of an out-of-court settlement. A sum of 46 million euros was later mentioned. According to a media report, the amount of the company's payment has been reduced compared to the original claim due to its key witness role. The payment flows back to the federal and state governments. At the beginning of September 2013, the federal government and Deutsche Bahn concluded an agreement according to which the federal railroad would assign its claims against the cartelists, but the income from the compensation should flow to the federal government.

In mid-November 2013, DB and Thyssen-Krupp agreed on a compensation payment of around 150 million euros. The sum flows back into the general federal budget. According to later reports, Thyssen-Krupp ultimately paid a total of 160 million euros in 2014. According to its own information from 2015, Thyssen-Krupp suffered damage of more than 300 million euros from the cartel.

With the imposition of a fine of ten million euros on the German subsidiary of the Czech Moravia Steel, the proceedings for collusion against Deutsche Bahn were concluded in July 2013.

In March 2015, negotiations were still ongoing between Deutsche Bahn and two other companies involved in the cartel. Deutsche Bahn's claims for damages were coordinated in an internal project called "Bruno" in which more than 100 employees are involved. The name is based on the Duisburg pizzeria "Da Bruno", where the cartelists met regularly.

According to media reports, almost all German transport companies were damaged in addition to Deutsche Bahn. According to its own information, the Bundeskartellamt concentrates on determining the market for all transactions that do not directly affect Deutsche Bahn (as of September 2012). Municipal transport companies are also preparing a claim for damages in a working group founded in 2012. A joint lawsuit could reach a volume of several hundred million euros.

At the start of a trial before the Bochum Regional Court in May 2015, all six accused Voestalpine managers and a former ThyssenKrupp employee made extensive confessions. The proceedings were closed in mid-May 2015 in return for a fine of 290,000 euros.

In September 2015, a trial began against seven other managers, including two former divisional heads of ThyssenKrupp, in whom the Bochum public prosecutor sees the main culprits.

Further investigation

Based on the results of the investigation against the “ Eisenbahnfreunde ”, the Federal Cartel Office started investigations against more than half a dozen manufacturers of railway sleepers . In July 2012, the offices of the manufacturers of the sleepers used in the Deutsche Bahn network were searched. The Bochum public prosecutor's office investigated around 200 suspects at the end of 2012. In mid-2013, over 200 suspects were on record. The cartel is one of the most extensive cartels that has ever been uncovered by authorities in Germany. The first charges of fraudulent tenders could still be brought in 2013 (as of June 2013).

Previous references to the cartel

The Bundeskartellamt criticizes the fact that Deutsche Bahn has made it easy for cartelists by promising fixed delivery quantities from 1995. At the same time, the almost identical prices of the rail suppliers were not noticed in the following years, since there were apparently no internal controls. According to a testimony at the Federal Cartel Office in April 2012, Deutsche Bahn itself could have had an interest in the cartel, as in return the steel companies remained customers of the freight transport subsidiary DB Cargo , which was also responsible for purchasing the rails for the group. Ultimately, Deutsche Bahn did not suffer any damage as a result of this coupling business , since rail investments were borne by the federal government. Deutsche Bahn contradicted this presumed complicity in the existence of the cartel; Thyssen-Krupp did not comment on the allegations.

According to a former DB manager who was dismissed in 2000 for corruption, two executives were suspected of a cartel in 1985. The same DB rail buyer (dismissed in 2000) was bribed by a Thyssen Krupp manager between 1997 and 1999 with a total of DM 240,000. The responsible Thyssen Krupp manager received a fine of 90,000 euros from his company and was not fired.

Deutsche Bahn had known about the cartel since 2000, but did not stop the agreements. When the DB rail buyer was dismissed in 2000, documents were secured “which clearly point to price agreements for the purchase of rails,” wrote a lawyer for Deutsche Bahn on August 17, 2000 in a letter to Frankfurt's chief public prosecutor Reinhard Rochus. The attorney repeated the allegations on September 27, 2000. According to information from the public prosecutor's office from the end of 2012, there was probably no concrete investigation approach in 2000. At the end of 2012, the public prosecutor could no longer state the reason for the failure to investigate, as the responsible investigators were no longer with the authorities.

An internal Thyssen-Krupp investigation by the law firm Freshfields between 2004 and 2006 did not provide any evidence for the cartel, despite internal reports. According to another report, the involvement of several employees in the cartel at Thyssen-Krupp was established in 2004, which, however, was declared statute-barred in 1999. Further in-house references to the responsible Thyssen Krupp board member Edwin Eichler about the cartel had no consequences in 2006.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Confessions in the Trial of the Steel Cartel . In: Der Tagesspiegel . No. 22391 , May 5, 2015, p. 7 .
  2. ↑ a b c Fine for rail cartel . In: Handelsblatt . No. 94 , May 19, 2015, p. 17 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Hans Leyendecker, Klaus Ott : The legacy of the three-party club . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . January 7, 2013, p. 20 (Munich) (similar version sueddeutsche.de ).
  4. ↑ Martin Murphy: The rail cartel cheats the railroad . In: Handelsblatt , No. 125, July 1, 2011, p. 1.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Martin Murphy: Cartel of Silence. In: Handelsblatt . No. 239, December 10, 2012, p. 10 (similar version handelsblatt.com ).
  6. ↑ a b c d e Martin Murphy: The rail friends and their bad game . In: Handelsblatt , No. 125, July 1, 2011, p. 18.
  7. ↑ a b c rail cartel - first prices agreed, then to the brothel . In: derwesten.de , September 11, 2012.
  8. ↑ Martin Murphy: The Red Light Friends . In: Handelsblatt , September 11, 2012, p. 18 (similar version handelsblatt.com ).
  9. ↑ a b c d Ulf Meinke: Secret meetings at the Hamburg airport . In: Berliner Morgenpost . No. 94 , September 15, 2015, ZDB -ID 749437-3 , p. 17 ( morgenpost.de ).
  10. ↑ a b Martin Murphy: Rail enthusiasts have to pay . In: Handelsblatt . No. 129, July 6, 7, 8, 2012, p. 26.
  11. ↑ a b c d Martin Murphy: Bahn has to worry about compensation . In: Handelsblatt . No. 147, August 1, 2012, p. 18 (similar version handelsblatt.com ).
  12. ↑ a b Martin Murphy: The railway forgives Voestalpine . In: Handelsblatt , No. 202, October 19, 2011, p. 22.
  13. ↑ Martin Murphy: Escape from the Cartel Trap . In: Handelsblatt . April 30, 2013, p. 26 .
  14. ↑ a b c Martin Murphy: Unequal treatment . In: Handelsblatt . No. 152, August 8, 2012, p. 18.
  15. ↑ a b c Klaus Ott : Municipalities before lawsuit against "rail friends" . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . February 21, 2013, p. 18 ( sueddeutsche.de ).
  16. ↑ Rail cartel: Further raids planned . In: Handelsblatt , No. 159, August 18, 2011, p. 4.
  17. ↑ a b Martin Murphy: Krupp is caught in the cartel trap . In: Handelsblatt . No. 69 , April 10, 2013, p. 18 .
  18. ↑ Klaus Ott : Thyssen wants 100 million euros - from a manager . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , December 10, 2012, p. 17.
  19. ^ A b Martin Murphy: Thyssen-Krupp is supposed to pay for the rail cartel. In: Handelsblatt . No. 248, December 21-26, 2012, p. 10.
  20. ↑ DB Mobility Logistics AG (Ed.): DB files suit against rail cartel . Press release from December 20, 2012.
  21. ^ Bahn prepares lawsuit against Thyssen-Krupp . Handelsblatt online, November 25, 2012.
  22. ↑ Stefan Menzel: A sought-after outsider from Austria . In: Handelsblatt . No. 3 , January 4, 2013, p. 34 f .
  23. ↑ Martin Murphy: Farewell to the Old Times . In: Handelsblatt . No. 93 , May 16, 2013, p. 18 .
  24. ↑ a b Klaus Ott : The first 50 million . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . April 29, 2013, p. 19 (similar version sueddeutsche.de ).
  25. ^ A b c Christian Schlesiger, Reinhold Böhmer: Railway brings money back . In: Wirtschaftswoche . No. 13 , March 21, 2015, p. 11 ( wiwo.de ).
  26. ↑ Dieter Fockenbrock: The greed of politics . In: Handelsblatt . No. 173 , September 9, 2013, p. 33 .
  27. ^ Martin Murphy: Steel company compensates rail . In: Handelsblatt . No. 224 , November 20, 2013, p. 15 (similar version to handelsblatt.com ).
  28. ^ Rail cartel: Millions fine for Moravia Steel . In: Handelsblatt online, July 11, 2013.
  29. ↑ "Bruno" brings in several hundred million euros . In: DB World . No. 6 , 2014, ISSN  0013-5437 , p. 21 .
  30. ↑ Rail cartel is said to have damaged municipal transport companies. In: Welt online , September 11, 2012.
  31. ↑ Jörg Schmitt: Manufacturer of railway sleepers under suspicion of cartels . In: Spiegel online , September 19, 2012.
  32. ↑ Martin Murphy: Endless Terror . In: Handelsblatt . No. 118 , June 24, 2013, p. 14 .
  33. ^ A b Martin Murphy: News from the rail cartel. In: Handelsblatt . No. 196, October 10, 2012, pp. 18f.
  34. ↑ Martin Murphy: Stirrup Holder of the Cartel. In: Handelsblatt . No. 204, October 22, 2012, p. 7.
  35. ↑ Martin Murphy: In the Cartel Trap . In: Handelsblatt . No. 44 , March 4, 2013, p. 16 f .
  36. ↑ Martin Murphy: A Case for Cromme. In: Handelsblatt . No. 204, October 22, 2012, p. 1.