Delhaize Serbia
Delhaize Serbia is a Serbian retail company owned by Ahold Delhaize, with headquarters in Belgrade. Founded in 2000, the chain has around 482 stores in Serbia. As of 2016, it has 20.60% market share in Serbia.
History
In Serbia, Maxi became the biggest retail company by acquiring companies C-market and Pekabeta. In March 2011, Delhaize Group bought the Maxi supermarket chain from Serbian Delta Holding for a sum of 932.5 million euros.Since 2013, Maxi and Tempo are no longer operating in Montenegro and Albania.
Since 2014, Maxi and Tempo are no longer operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The company "Tropic Group" from Banja Luka bought the ownership of 39 retail supermarkets from "Delhaize BiH".
Allegations of price fixing
On October 10, the Commission for Protection of Competition launched an investigation against Delhaize Serbia, Mercator S, Univerexport, and DIS for violating competition in the market by entering into a restrictive agreement, specifically by agreeing on identical prices for certain products.The Commission monitored price movements for 35 selected products from late April 2024 to September 19, 2024 in these four retail chains. The prices were found to be virtually identical or very similar across different retailers, including during promotional periods.
Belgrade Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office formed a case on 15 October 2024 after receiving Commission’s report and issued requests to the Market Inspection Sector of the Ministry of Internal and Foreign Trade for data spanning 2016-2024 regarding pricing, supply chains, and anti-competitive behaviour.
Governor of the National Bank of Serbia Jorgovanka Tabaković stated that the company Delhaize had allegedly simulated a liquidation procedure in order to transfer €130 million in profit out of Serbia without paying taxes.