The ruling

On 21 October 2026 the Amsterdam Regional Court ordered Heineken N.V. and its Greek subsidiary Athenian Brewery (Αθηναϊκή Ζυθοποιία) to pay Macedonia-Thrace Brewery (ZMΘ), the producer of Vergina beer, a total of €111.2 million. The court found that the two companies acted unlawfully and were jointly liable for harm to ZMΘ between September 1998 and 14 September 2014. It declared the judgment provisionally enforceable, so the compensation and court costs must be paid now rather than after any appeal concludes. The court also rejected Heineken's argument that ZMΘ would be unable to return the money if the appeal succeeded.

How the award is split

The total combines €43 million in damages with €68 million in interest, and interest makes up 61% of the final amount. Heineken attributes that share to statutory interest rates and the long duration of the proceedings. The more precise figures in one report are €43.33 million in damages and €67.88 million in interest, which other reports round to €43 million and €68 million. The court adopted the economic model prepared by Oxera, ZMΘ's economic adviser, and rejected the arguments of Heineken and its adviser, CRA. To assess the harm it relied on the findings of the Hellenic Competition Commission on the nature, duration and extent of Athenian Brewery's practices.

Damages43.33

Statutory interest67.88

Damages

43.33 € million

Statutory interest

67.88 € million

Data from the article text

Background to the dispute

ZMΘ filed its damages claim in 2017, following a decision by the Hellenic Competition Commission that found Athenian Brewery had for years abused a dominant position in the Greek beer market. Sources give the date of that decision differently, with one report placing it in late 2014 and others in 2015. At the time the Commission imposed a €31.4 million fine, which reporting describes as the largest it had levied on a single company, and an appeals court later reduced it to €26.7 million. Greek proceedings on the matter concluded in 2023.

Heineken's response

Heineken says it respects the court and the legal process but disagrees with significant parts of the decision. The company argues that claims of this size must rest on documented evidence and reflect actual market conditions. It says the calculation partly depends on assumptions about sales, pricing and profitability in a hypothetical market scenario, and that those assumptions need careful checking against the available economic data. Heineken will appeal so that these issues can be examined in full, and it states that competition law compliance is a structural pillar of its governance, supported by policies, audit mechanisms and training across the organisation.

ZMΘ's reaction

ZMΘ describes the ruling as an important milestone and says it shows that smaller companies can win against multinational groups through careful planning and persistence. Its corporate development director, Dimitris Kris, said:

“For almost three decades, Heineken did everything it could to avoid its responsibility for the huge damage caused by the practices of AZ.”

ZMΘ also stresses that the court found Heineken and its subsidiary form a single economic entity, which it says opens the way to suing parent companies in their home country over subsidiaries' breaches within the European Union. The announcement puts Heineken's stake in Athenian Brewery at 98.8% and says the ruling is only the beginning of the fight.

Parallel proceedings

Olympic Brewery, which belongs to the Carlsberg group, has restarted its own damages action against Athenian Brewery and claims losses above €300 million. In Austria, the Federal Competition Authority has started proceedings against Heineken and its subsidiary Brau Union before the Vienna Cartel Court over similar practices. The reports do not describe the outcome of either case. The Amsterdam judgment therefore sits alongside claims that are still pending in other courts.