This is the decision by the Greek Public Prosecutor to dismiss the allegations of perjury made by AB against MTB as “fundamentally unfounded”. The prosecutor concluded that the complaint by Heineken's subsidiary was "totally false” and had been filed “with malicious intent".
Demetri Politopoulos, one of MTB’s founders said: “Heineken would have you believe it is a responsible global brewer that is committed to integrity and fairness. The real Heineken experience for MTB and Greek consumers has been one of a sustained attack on fair competition, delivered via Athenian Brewery.
The unsuccessful complaint by AB was filed shortly after MTB had given its support to the Public Prosecutor’s criminal action in Greece against two senior Heineken executives at Athenian Brewery who were charged with competition law infringements and are due to face trial this month after several postponements. The trial was originally scheduled for July 2016.
These criminal charges were brought following a 12-year-long investigation by the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) which in 2015 ruled that for nearly two decades AB had systematically abused its dominant market position in violation of Greek and EU competition law.
Politopoulos added: “The HCC proved that Athenian Brewery manipulated this market, restricting competition and limiting consumer choice. Through vexatious legal actions, AB has subsequently tried to bully and stifle our right to legal recourse with multiple lawsuits and appeals.
“All have failed. It’s now time for AB and Heineken, which has ultimate responsibility for its operating business, to hold its hands up, apologise and pay the price for this sustained market abuse.”
In July 2017, an appeal by AB against the HCC findings was dismissed by the Athens Administrative Appeals Court, confirming a record €26.7m fine on Heineken’s Greek subsidiary. The court endorsed a large body of evidence that AB, which sells Alfa, Amstel and Heineken in Greece, had implemented a targeted policy to exclude competitors from wholesalers, as well as on-trade and off-trade retail outlets.
Following on from the decision in Greece, MTB launched a €100m damages claim against Heineken and AB in the Court of Amsterdam, commercial division, in February 2017. The court will hear summary legal arguments on March 22.
