Egyptian Competition Authority refers seven medical equipment suppliers to prosecution

The Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) referred seven medical equipment suppliers, including Temco Technology and Ghalioungui, to the Prosecutor General for conspiring to fix prices on public hospital tenders, Al Mal reports. The ECA’s yearlong investigation concluded that the companies conspired between to present the same bids in tenders to supply public hospitals over a two-year period between 2013 and 2015, which not only drove up prices of equipment, but also took advantage of loopholes in the Tenders and Auctions Act which allows the government to distribute orders equally among companies which present the same bids. The ECA alleges that this led to shortages in medical supplies at public hospitals due to high prices.