15.7 billion won fine imposed on Hanwha Solutions for violating the Fair Trade Commission’s Fair Trade Act

On the 8th, the Fair Trade Commission announced that Hanwha Solutions had violated the Fair Trade Act, imposed a correction order and a fine of 15.7 billion KRW, and indicted the company on charges.

A 7.3 billion won fine was imposed on Han Express for receiving support.

According to the Fair Trade Commission, Han Express is not an affiliate of the Hanwha Group, but until May 2009 it was owned by President Seung-yeon Kim under the new name and managed by the group’s management planning office, but was sold to the family of President Kim’s older sister.

The FTC believes that Hanwha Solutions provided an unfair profit of 17.8 billion in 10 years by leading the logistics work to Han Express.

The Fair Trade Commission explained that from June 2008 to March 2019, the entire volume of domestic export container transport worth KRW 83 billion was entrusted to Han Express through private contracts and provided high transportation costs, etc.

Additionally, the FTC added that when delivering hydrochloric acid and caustic soda to a transportation company that has a tanker truck, from January 2010 to September 2018, KRW 151.8 billion was given to Han Express alone and a High transportation cost was paid to support KRW 9.1 billion. .

The Fair Trade Commission added HanExpress, which has no real role in the transaction stage, to receive the toll fee when Hanwha Solutions deals with a customer through an agency, artificially maintaining and strengthening Hanwha’s business base and financial condition. Express and winning exclusive orders. As a result, it was established that the market entry of other transport companies was blocked.

Hanwha Solutions excluded existing transportation companies and only transacted with Han Express, so other transportation companies were subcontracted and the risk of unfair price cuts increased.

Jeong Jin-wook, director of the business group of the Fair Trade Commission, said: “It is significant as it was taken seriously by confirming the act that undermined the Fair Trade order by directing the logistical work to a company controlled by his sister’s family in the name of an affiliated company. “

Hanwha Solutions announced its position on the 8th on the “correction of Hanwha Solutions unfair support behavior” announced by the Fair Trade Commission.

Regarding the fact that the FTC judged the transaction between Hanwha Solutions and HanExpress as “unfair support”, Hanwha Solutions concluded that “Hanwha Solutions sincerely called on the basis of a statutory review based on objective facts and expert economic analysis of economics, but the FTC is unfair support. “I’m sorry for what I drew.”

At the same time, “Although the FTC was separated from kinship through scrutiny in accordance with laws and regulations, it used the term ‘total number of crimes’, not legal terms, and referred to the real names of individual shareholders. , and worked on the basis of blood relations for no reasonable reason.

Furthermore, he stated that the transaction between Hanwha Solutions and Han Express was a transaction he considered “efficiency” and “security”, which are legal and compliant with industry practices.

Hanwha Solutions said, “The purpose of uniting container transport with Han Express and selecting Han Express as an integrated tank truck transport company was to reduce costs and improve management efficiency through logistics efficiency.” “The risk of accidents exists, so we negotiated with Han Express, which meets the standards in terms of size and transportation facilities, and Han Express has contributed to safety management by fulfilling many roles, such as significant investments in facilities, prevention and accident management and education “. done.

Hanwha Solutions will actively clarify that the transactions are legal in future legal proceedings. In addition to judicial responses, Hanwha Solutions improves and complements the transaction system by improving the independence and transparency of the internal transaction committee to establish a more objective and fair transaction order in the future. He said he’s going to do it.