S. Korean oil refiners ordered to pay 196 bln won for price fixing

SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean appellate court on Wednesday ordered
four oil refiners to pay 196 billion won (US$168.5 million) in compensation to
the government for damages caused by their price collusion for military
procurement.
The lawsuit against SK Energy Co., GS Caltex Corp., Hyundai Oilbank Co. and S-Oil
Corp. was filed by the Ministry of Defense in 2001 after the nation's fair trade
regulators found that they had fixed high prices for military procurement from
1998-2000.
In the ruling Wednesday, the Seoul High Court said the oil refiners must pay
130.9 billion won plus interest for the past nine years to the ministry, totaling
196 billion won.
"The oil refiners should take responsibility for damages caused by their
collusion (by paying) compensation," the court said in the ruling.
The ruling was seen as a partial victory for the ministry, which sought 158.4
billion won and interest.
Seven years after the lawsuit was filed, a lower court ordered the oil refiners
to pay 81 billion won in compensation. At the time, the amount of compensation
was based on the assumption that they didn't engage in collusion.
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