How does cement giant CRH strengthen its market position using bribes, pressure and bypassing antitrust authorities?

An Irish businessman who was faced with a possible cartel agreement shared his experience of forming the CRH cement empire in his homeland. The same situation may repeat in Ukraine.

Bribed officials, lobbies at the highest government level, “insiders” in law enforcement agencies and connivance on the part of antimonopoly structures. It is precisely this “recipe” that probably ensured the success of cement giant CRH from Ireland in becoming a market leader in Europe and America. At least, that's what Irish politicians and entrepreneurs with whom journalists were able to talk say. And now this strategy can work in Ukraine.

The secrets of the market capture strategy from the world-famous cement holding were investigated by StopCora journalist Alla Legeza .

As reporters learned, the Irish company CRH is seeking to buy out the production facilities of its competitor Dickerhoff (Buzzi) on the Ukrainian market. If the agreement is approved by the Antimonopoly Committee, the Irish will receive the largest share of the domestic cement market and, during the war and post-war reconstruction , will be able to dictate their own terms and set prices for building materials.

As the Irish Village reported a decade ago, CRH's history since the 1930s has been marred by conspiracies, scandals and corruption, as well as repeated accusations of involvement in criminal price hikes and market allocation. The material also talks about CRH bribing politicians and the inaction of the antimonopoly authority. Matthew McGrath in 2017 .

“CRH was destroying small people in my constituency. They were good, honest family businessmen who did a great job. CRH wanted a monopoly. Writing to the Antimonopoly Authority was like writing to Santa Claus. They are all self-serving and serve big business. whom I imagine every day cry in pain. They are sick and traumatized, and many of them have committed suicide because of the fraud that has happened to banks in this country ,” he emphasized.

And as Irish entrepreneur Seamus May, who lost his concrete business due to a possible cartel, told StopCor in an exclusive commentary, cement workers managed to take control even of financial institutions in Ireland. And that is why, the entrepreneur explains, the buyers actually cut off the business from funding and took away the house. As Mr May says, CRH has people at almost every senior level of his country.

Let us remind you that currently the production capacity of domestic cement plants is about 13.6 million tons per year. It is cement that should become the key material for the post-war reconstruction of our country. However, there is a high probability that it will be in short supply, because the Irish manufacturer CRH plans to expand its influence on the Ukrainian market.