As early as the first half of 2011 - immediately after the first internal suspicions arose - the company began to investigate them thoroughly with the help of external support, immediately contacted the German Cartel Office and submitted a leniency application with a comprehensive presentation of the facts.
In addition, voestalpine AG - within the scope of the legal possibilities - has for its part transparently informed the media and the public about the respective status of the facts and - as the only company affected by this - has also reported on house searches, for example.
As part of the internal investigation, voestalpine AG not only immediately drew appropriate personnel consequences, but also implemented far-reaching organizational measures to prevent recurrences in the future. Of particular note here is the extensive expansion of compliance structures and processes throughout the Group, which has been consistently implemented worldwide since the fall of this year. voestalpine AG has also provided transparent information about the measures taken within the company on several occasions.
The scope and consistency of the activities undertaken in the course of the review as well as the intensive cooperation with Deutsche Bahn, including the immediate fulfillment of additional compliance guidelines issued by Deutsche Bahn for all suppliers, were indispensable prerequisites for being able to bid for new rail contracts and subsequently being awarded a contract.
From the very beginning, voestalpine also endeavored to achieve maximum transparency and disclosure of all relevant information with the German antitrust authorities. All of the suspicious facts that have been reported in the media in recent months as "new" or "additional" were already the subject of earlier statements of fact made by voestalpine to the authorities.
Due to the complexity and sensitivity of the matter, it is not possible for the company to go into individual details of the proceedings or the veracity of media rumors until further notice. In particular, voestalpine attaches great importance to maintaining unrestricted and seamless direct cooperation with the authorities, rather than communicating via the media.
voestalpine is a globally active group with a number of specialized and flexible companies that produce, process and further develop high-quality steel products. The Group is represented by 360 production and sales companies in more than 60 countries. With its highest quality flat steel products, voestalpine is one of Europe's leading partners to the automotive, white goods, and energy industries. Furthermore, voestalpine is the world market leader in turnout technology, tool steel, and special sections, as well as number one in Europe in the production of rails. In the business year 2010/11, the voestalpine Group generated revenues of around EUR 11 billion, and achieved an operating result (EBIT) of almost EUR 1 billion; the Group has around 47,000 employees worldwide.