Unipetrol says may appeal against EU cartel fine

PRAGUE, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Czech oil and petrochemicals company Unipetrol <UNPEsp.PR> said on Thursday it might appeal against the 17.6-million-euro fine it received from the European Commission as a result of a cartel investigation in synthetic rubber.

The European Union's executive body imposed its second-largest cartel fine ever on Wednesday -- 519 million euros ($685 million) -- on five companies for fixing prices of synthetic rubber used to make tyres and other products.

"We disagree with the fine," Unipetrol said in a statement. "We will use all means of legal defence."

Unipetrol, majority controlled by Polish refiner PKN Orlen <PKNA.WA>, said its laywers were looking into the possibility of appealing to the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg.

Analysts said the cartel fine news could hit Unipetrol's shares when the market opens on Thursday.

"The fine is approximately one and a half months profit of Unipetrol ... A slight negative reaction could be expected in the stock price," Tamas Pletser, Erste Bank analyst, said in a morning report to investors.

The Commission had said there was a rubber cartel, lasting between at least 1996 and 2002, which fixed prices for butadiene rubber and emulsion styrene butadiene rubber mainly bought by tyre makers such as Michelin <MICP.PA>, Pirelli <PECI.MI> and Goodyear <GT.N>.

The size of the fine reflects the EU executive's growing crackdown on suspected cartels, with Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes vowing to issue even higher penalties if companies continued to break antitrust law by fixing prices. ((Reporting by Marek Petrus, editing by Greg Mahlich;

Reuters Messaging: marek.petrus.reuters.com@reuters.net;

e-mail: prague.newsroom@reuters.com/marek.petrus@reuters.com;

tel: +420 224 190 477))

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Keywords: UNIPETROL CARTEL/