The iconic slogan “Want something from Avon?” has gained cult meme status on the internet, but it is no laughing matter for hundreds of small entrepreneurs.
The beauty and construction industries in the shadow of financial bottlenecks
The reality turned out to be brutal: instead of cosmetics, Avon Cosmetics Polska’s contractors simply wanted the money owed to them. The investigation conducted by the President of UOKiK showed that the beauty industry giant treated its obligations extremely flexibly.
In a short period, from April to June 2023, the company was overdue in payments to as many as 233 firms, mainly from the micro, small and medium enterprise sector.
Office analysts added 2,189 invoices paid late, with a record delay of 129 days. Worse, 551 invoices were not settled at all.
Result? The UOKiK President unhesitatingly issued the company its own “bill” – a penalty of 1,145,604.54 PLN.
A similar fate befell Lubelska Neptun, a powerhouse in the distribution of infrastructure construction products. The company supplying solutions for water and gas networks itself created a payment bottleneck.
During the same time window Neptun did not pay its smaller trading partners on time, resulting in sanctions of 1,174,634 PLN. Two different worlds, cosmetics and heavy infrastructure, were united by the same crime: a lack of respect for the liquidity of smaller players.
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Heartless mathematics for debtors
Could the penalties have been higher? Corporate financial strategists know well that the UOKiK algorithm is relentless. The statutory formula rigidly sets the maximum penalty cap, taking into account two main variables: the total value of overdue payments and the duration of the delay.
The calculated base amount acts like a guillotine. The only thing managers can do is fight for its reduction.
Such a concession tariff, however, requires immediate capitulation and full cooperation. The office considers actions that minimize the risk of bottlenecks, limit their scale, immediately cease violations, and actively cooperate during the proceeding.
It is worth remembering another safety valve: President UOKiK has the right to examine a company’s payment discipline within a strict three‑month window. Intervention occurs when the sum of arrears in that period reaches at least 2 million PLN.
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Over a hundred yellow cards, i.e., UOKiK’s soft diplomacy
The office does not always immediately resort to multi‑million fines. Sometimes business diplomacy appears on the table, though it has a specific, cold tone.
Since the beginning of 2026, President UOKiK has already issued over 100 so‑called “soft interventions”.
The primary goal of the fight against payment bottlenecks is to ensure that smaller entities receive the money owed to them as quickly as possible. Interventions play a very important role here. Most companies we address settle their arrears. The rest must expect a financial penalty — said the UOKiK President, Tomasz Chróstny.
These letters reach companies where treasury algorithms have detected the first concerning symptoms of financial sluggishness. They are official, formal calls to improve payment culture.
For company boards, this is a clear signal: we know what you are doing, your liquidity score is falling, and the next step will be a full‑scale, burdensome proceeding and real financial losses.
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Source: Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.
