Budapest, September 16, 2026 – The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) is organising the next conference of the International Competition Network (ICN) Cartel Working Group – one of the world’s leading international professional conferences on cartel law – in Budapest in September 2027. The GVH has been an active member of the ICN’s professional work since it was established in 2001, has held co-chair positions in several working groups and subgroups, and is currently co-chair of the Cartel Working Group until 2027.
The ICN is an international network of more than 140 national and multinational competition authorities that serves to promote the harmonization of competition law rules and enforcement. Through practical recommendations, working groups, and annual conferences, the ICN supports effective and consistent competition law enforcement worldwide.
The GVH has been actively involved in the work of the ICN for more than two decades. Between 2004 and 2012, the Authority co-chaired the Cartel Working Group, while between 2016 and 2021, it participated in the professional work as co-chair of one of the working group’s subgroups. In the 2022-2025 period, it held the position of co-chair of the Agency Effectiveness Working Group. In recognition of its work, the Hungarian Competition Authority hosted the ICN’s Annual Conference in October 2021, and in the fall of 2023, the president of the GVH was elected as a permanent member of the organization’s Steering Group.
At the ICN’s 2025 Annual Conference, Csaba Balázs Rigó’s membership in the Steering Group was reaffirmed, whilst the Hungarian Competition Authority was once again elected as co-chair of the Cartel Working Group for the period until 2027. Also as a result of these developments, the GVH will host the ICN Cartel Workshop – the working group’s professional conference – in Budapest in September 2027. This international conference is one of the most prominent events in cartel law, bringing together leading competition law experts from around the world to discuss the most pressing issues in the fight against cartels. The conference was originally scheduled to take place in the autumn of 2026, but was subsequently postponed until autumn 2027.
The GVH is particularly active in the field of anti-cartel enforcement, even by international standards. There are 22 cartel proceedings pending before the national competition authority, involving a total of approximately 1,800 tenders. The number of undertakings involved in the ongoing cartel proceedings exceeds 250. In 2025, the GVH concluded three cartel cases, imposing fines totalling HUF 2.2 billion, while initiating five new cases. In 2026, the GVH has already initiated six new cartel proceedings.
In 2025, the GVH closed several major cartel cases with significant fines. These included the anti-competitive cooperation between companies manufacturing and distributing medical devices in August 2025, and the garbage truck cartel case concluded in early December 2025, in which the national competition authority imposed fines of more than HUF 1.5 billion on six companies. Approximately 60% of the fines imposed by the GVH in 2025 were issued in cartel cases.
GVH Press
Further information:
Bálint Horváth, Head of Communication +36 20 238 6939