Heineken has been ordered by the Amsterdam District Court to pay €111 million in damages and interest to Greek brewer Macedonian Thrace Brewery (MTB), following a long-running competition dispute over alleged anti-competitive conduct by its Greek subsidiary between 1998 and 2014.

The award comprises €43 million in damages and €68 million in accrued interest, according to Heineken, which said on 21 October that it disagreed with the court’s reasoning and would appeal the judgment. MTB, maker of Vergina beer, brought the follow-on claim after Greece’s competition authority found its rival had abused its dominant market position.

The case follows a December 2015 decision by the Hellenic Competition Commission, which fined Athenian Brewery €31.5 million for abusing its position in the Greek beer market. The penalty was subsequently reduced to €26.7 million by the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal in 2017.

The Amsterdam court had previously ruled in October 2024 that Heineken and Athenian Brewery formed a single economic undertaking, making them jointly and severally liable for harm caused by the subsidiary’s infringement. In June 2026, the Dutch Supreme Court rejected Heineken’s challenge to the jurisdiction of the Dutch courts, following a European Court of Justice ruling in February 2025.

Heineken said the damages calculation relied partly on assumptions about MTB’s sales, pricing and profitability in a hypothetical market scenario. The company argued that these assumptions needed to be tested against economic evidence and market developments during the relevant period.

“We do not believe the damages awarded adequately reflect those considerations,” the brewer said in its statement, confirming that it would appeal the decision.

MTB welcomed the ruling, with director of business development Demetri Chriss saying: “For nearly three decades Heineken has done everything in its power to avoid being held accountable for the damage it has caused MTB, but the Amsterdam District Court's judgment goes a long way in setting the record straight.”

The judgment could have implications for other competition disputes involving major brewers and their subsidiaries. Carlsberg and its Greek subsidiary Olympic Brewery are pursuing a similar claim in Amsterdam, while Austria’s Federal Competition Authority is pursuing Heineken and its subsidiary Brau Union over alleged comparable misconduct.

Meanwhile, Greece’s competition authority has opened a new investigation into alleged abuses in the beer market after the period covered by its original decision. Any further findings against Athenian Brewery could provide grounds for additional damages claims against Heineken.

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