Cooper Tire Europe Plaintiff in Cartel Lawsuit

A number of tyre manufacturers have filed a lawsuit against chemical producers alleged to be members of a cartel operating in the late 1990s and early this decade. According to a report published by Czech Republic newspaper the Prague Daily Monitor, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Europe Limited and 25 other plaintiffs filed the UK based lawsuit with the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, on February 22. The 26 plaintiffs are said to be seeking an unspecified amount of compensation from 23 companies.

One of defendants, Czech group Unipetrol, received notification of the lawsuit in late May. Speaking to the Prague Daily Monitor, a company spokeswoman, Blanka Ruzickova, said: “It is now being analysed by our lawyers, but it is sure that we are going to defend ourselves. The lawsuit is based on an accusation of a cartel agreement that we rejected already two years ago and that we still reject.”

The plaintiffs seek compensation for damage, including interest, for losses caused in 1996 and 2002 by an alleged cartel of companies including Shell, Bayer, Dow and Unipetrol. The European Commission issued a verdict on this cartel in November 2006. In its decision, the Commission stated there was a cartel agreement and imposed fines on the companies involved in the cartel.