Following the record fine imposed on the retail chain BİM, its shares experienced a significant drop. The Competition Authority issued a fine of 1.3 billion Turkish lira to BİM after determining that an employee had deleted data from a work device during the investigation. As of 10:13 AM, BİM’s shares fell by 4.5% to 530 lira. The company’s shares were the worst-performing stock in the BIST-100 index today, with a total loss of around 7% over two days. The Competition Authority released a statement last night titled “Preventing On-Site Inspections Can Have Serious Consequences.”

The statement indicated that following the commencement of the on-site inspection, an act of data deletion from a BİM manager’s device was identified, leading the authority to conclude that the on-site inspection was obstructed and hindered. BİM responded to the fine today, emphasizing that the individual who deleted messages from a messaging application on their personal phone did not hold a position that could influence company decisions, and that the messages were recovered. The company’s statement mentioned that the messages did not contain any content violating competition law, and criticized the fine as unjust. BİM also expressed discomfort with the tone of the statement, pointing out that the headline did not align with customary practices. The company stated that it would utilize all legal rights against the decision once the reasoned decision was received.