May 27 (Reuters) - Switzerland's Clariant said

on Tuesday it has received a 1-billion-euro ($1-billion) damages

claim by Austrian energy company OMV alleging

infringement of competition law on the ethylene purchasing

market.

"Clariant firmly rejects the allegation and will adamantly

defend its position in the proceedings," it said in a statement.

Clariant said it was one of four companies targeted by the

claim.

OMV did not respond to a request for comment sent outside of

regular business hours.

Earlier this year, the Swiss chemicals company received

similar claims from BASF and TotalEnergies,

which it also rejected.

In 2020, the European Commission fined Clariant,

Mexico's Orbia and U.S. group Celanese a total

of 260 million euros for colluding to keep the price of ethylene

purchases low.

Clariant said it has "substantiated economic evidence

that the conduct of the parties did not produce any effect on

the market".

($1 = 0.8791 euros)