GREENCORE will be informed today of the size of the fine that the European Commission is imposing for alleged anti-competitive practices dating in the 1980s involving its Irish Sugar subsidiary.

A spokesman for Competition Commissioner, Mr Karel Van Miert, confirmed that a "nice fine" would be imposed on Irish Sugar, but declined to give the exact size of that fine. There is speculation that Greencore may receive a £6 million penalty from the Commission, a penalty that is likely to be appealed by the company.

Earlier this year, the Commission made it clear that it planned to go ahead and impose penalties on Irish Sugar.

Irish Sugar is one of a number of European sugar companies alleged to have colluded in dividing up markets and setting prices between 1982 and 1990, a period when Irish Sugar was State-owned. Greencore, Irish Sugar's parent company, was privatised in 1991.

The Commission's inquiry into the sugar industry was prompted by an admission by the British group, Tate & Lyle, that it had discovered unusual marketing arrangements involving price-fixing between itself and Irish Sugar.

The Commission has the power to levy fines of up to 10 per cent of a company's turnover where there are breaches of EU competition rules. In practice, however, penalties are much more modest.

Greencore has already provided for the EU fine in its accounts, but is likely to appeal if it is as high as £6 million - over 4 per cent of Irish Sugar's turnover.

This will be the third time in five years that Irish companies have been penalised by the EU for anti-competitive practices. In 1992, Aer Lingus was fined £500,000 for abusing its dominant position on the Dublin-London route. In 1994, CRH was fined £2.8 million for Irish Cement's involvement in a cement cartel.