Despite playing an active role in the Swedish Competition Authority's investigation, NCC has been ordered to pay competition-impeding damages of SEK 150 million. This was established when the Stockholm City Court announced its verdict on the asphalt cartel case. NCC is extremely surprised at the verdict and will appeal to the Market Court. 
 
The verdict, which entails that NCC will have to pay competition-impeding damages of SEK 150 million, was diametrically different from NCC's petition, in accordance with Section 28, Subsection 2 of the Competition Act, for complete exemption from having to pay competition-impeding damages. According to the Act, "parties who, to a highly significant extent, have facilitated the investigation of complicity on their own part or the part of others" may be spared from paying competition-impeding damages. 
 
"The City Court has not taken NCC:s arguments into account. The actions taken by NCC facilitated the Swedish Competition Authority's investigations in a decisive manner and the City Court should have weighed this into its judgment," says Ulf Wallin, Senior Legal Counsel of the NCC Group, adding:
"In addition, the amount is unreasonably high in view of the City Court's confirmation that there was no underlying general agreement to divide up all central and local government paving procurements, and that it was instead a local phenomenon that occurred over just a years."