E-Malt.com News article: The Netherlands & Greece: Court orders Heineken to pay €111.2 million to Greek rival Macedonian Thrace Brewery

A Dutch court has ordered Heineken to pay €111.2 million (approximately $124.8 million) in damages and accumulated interest to Macedonian Thrace Brewery (MTB), the Greek brewer best known for its Vergina brand, after finding that the Dutch group's Greek subsidiary abused its dominant position in the country's beer market for more than a decade, BigGo Finance reported on October 21.

The ruling, issued Wednesday by the Amsterdam court, holds the parent company liable for the conduct of Athenian Brewery (AB), Greece's largest brewer. The court calculated that MTB lost out on €43.3 million (approximately $48.3 million) in profits over a 16-year period, and added €67.9 million (approximately $76.4 million) in interest because the anti-competitive behavior dates back to 1998.

The case follows a 2015 decision by Greece's competition authority, which fined Athenian Brewery €31.5 million (approximately $35.4 million) for thwarting rivals through exclusive agreements with retailers. Under those arrangements, outlets received discounts if they refrained from stocking competitors' beer, a practice the regulator said also pushed up prices across the market.

Heineken said it respects the legal process but will appeal the judgment, arguing it disagrees with the court on key points. "In our view, damage claims of this magnitude should be based on facts and a realistic representation of market conditions," a company spokesperson said, according to Dutch news agency ANP.

The spokesperson said the damages calculation rests partly on assumptions about MTB's revenue, pricing and profitability in a hypothetical market scenario. "In our view, such assumptions must be carefully tested against the available economic evidence and developments in the market during the relevant period," the spokesperson added. The company also said the awarded sum does not adequately reflect those considerations.

The dispute has wound through Greek and Dutch proceedings for years. The 2015 penalty against Athenian Brewery covered conduct between 1998 and 2014, and MTB subsequently pursued Heineken in the Netherlands as the parent of the Greek unit.

For Heineken, the judgment represents a relatively contained financial hit against a business that spans dozens of markets, but it revives scrutiny of how the brewer's local subsidiaries structured distribution agreements in Southern Europe. The appeal means the final liability could take months or longer to settle, leaving the €111 million provision uncertain. The ruling also adds to a broader European pattern of follow-on damages claims, in which private litigants seek compensation after regulators have already established an antitrust infringement.


21 October, 2026