Milk Industry Investigation 'Difficult'

An investigation into possible price fixing in the milk industry is proving to be "difficult", said chairman of the Commission for the Protection of Competition Costakis Christoforou speaking to CyprusNewsReport.com.

The case was expected to be finished by the end of last year, but Christoforou said that although the hearings are over, he has asked for further details from the interested parties.

"It's a difficult case because it goes into the past, and we have to take into account the legal circumstances of that time," he said.

The period in question is 2005-2007, and the investigation is into the entire chain of milk production; from cow farms to the milk producers and supermarket chains which distribute the milk, including Orphanides Supermarket. There are two milk producers included in the case, Vivartia S.A. which was a merger between Christis and Charalambides; and Lanitis.

There is no definite date for the Commission's decision, said Christoforou.

"We still have a way to go - I want to believe it won't be that long," he said.

In the past, the Commission has slapped multi-million euro fines on the petrol industry for price fixing. According to the latest report by Eurostat, milk, cheese and eggs in Cyprus are priced at an incredible 137% above the EU average.