MUNICH, Germany — If Financial Times Deutschland is correctly informed, EU antitrust commissioner Neelie Kroes' sentence on Intel in the ongoing antitrust case is almost completed. The sentence will only be published in late summer, but Intel can expect a high fine, the paper writes.

The EC is conducting investigations against Intel since the year 2000; in 2007, antitrust commissioner Kroes launched a formal probe against the microprocessor company for allegedly having stifled the competition by offering steep rebates for dealers banning products with processors from competitor AMD. In this context, the antitrust authorities have also conducted investigations against dealer chains Carrefour in France, Dixon's in the UK and the Media-Saturn Holding (MSH) in Germany. The investigations included raids at the MSH headquarters in Ingolstadt, Germany, as well as in MSH subsidiaries in Italy, Hungary and Poland.

Intel, of course denies the allegations and is expected to take legal actions against any sentence but dismissal. If the antitrust authorities conclude that the company indeed had used illegal methods, it could be fined with up to 10 percent of its annual revenue. In addition, the company could be sentenced to change its sales strategies.

The penalty for Intel and the other companies involved in the proceedings are yet unclear, but it probably will be among the highest fines in the EU antitrust history, the paper claims.