Lithuanian Competition Authority

Lithuanian Competition Law Amendments: From Fining Powers to Guarantees of Independence* On November 1 amendments to the Law on Competition of the Republic of Lithuania enter into force. These amendments are in line with the ECN+ Directive intended to empower the competition authorities of (...)

Lithuanian Competition Authority updates rules on immunity from fines or their reduction and adopts rules on cooperation with EU counterparts* In relation to the amendments to the Law on Competition adopted by the Seimas, today the Lithuanian competition authority Konkurencijos taryba has (...)

Contract Extensions With Passenger Road Transport Service Providers Without a Competitive Procedure Restricted Competition* The Lithuanian competition authority Konkurencijos taryba has found that the Lithuanian transport safety administration (LTSA) infringed the Law on Competition when it (...)

Competition Law Amendments Will Ensure More Effective Competition Enforcement in Lithuania* Today Seimas adopted amendments to the Law on Competition which will transpose the provisions of the Directive of the European Parliament and Council into national law, ensuring uniform regulation of (...)

Retailer Palink Receives Fine for Unfair Commercial Practices to Food and Drink Suppliers* The Lithuanian competition authority Konkurencijos taryba found that UAB Palink, one of the major retail companies in Lithuania, infringed the Law on the Prohibition of Unfair Practices of Retailers (...)

Konkurencijos Taryba Clears Acquisition of Latvian Company Eco Baltia* Konkurencijos taryba cleared the acquisition of 52.81 per cent of the Latvian company Eco Baltia indirectly through BSGF Salvus, and acquisition of joint control of Eco Baltia by the investment fund INVL Baltic Sea Growth (...)

Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania: Construction Companies Restricted Competition in Public Procurement Through Joint Bidding* The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (Court) rejected the appeals by the construction company Panevėžio statybos trestas (PST) and company Active (...)

Konkurencijos taryba warns travel agencies to refrain from anti-competitive behaviour* The Lithuanian competition authority Konkurencijos taryba responded to information on social media and warned travel agencies that their actions may be viewed as anti-competitive when some of them requested (...)

Konkurencijos Taryba Suggests Stricter Liability For Major Retailers‘ Unfair Practices To Suppliers* After conducting the monitoring of the implementation of the Law on the Prohibition of Unfair Practices of Retailers (Law), in its report provided to the Government the Lithuanian competition (...)

Konkurencijos Taryba Publishes Explanatory Note on Inspections Performed at Business Premises* The Lithuanian competition authority Konkurencijos taryba has prepared an explanatory note for companies and their lawyers to give more clarity on the procedures of the inspections carried out at (...)

EXAMINATION OF MERGERS MAY LAST LONGER* As companies have temporarily suspended their business operations due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Konkurencijos taryba is struggling to receive information from businesses and informs companies that it may take longer than usual to implement the activities (...)

KONKURENCIJOS TARYBA LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO SUSPECTED ANTI-COMPETITIVE AGREEMENT AMONG LITHUANIAN BASKETBALL LEAGUE AND BASKETBALL CLUBS* The Lithuanian competition authority Konkurencijos taryba has launched an investigation into a suspected anti-competitive agreement among the (...)

Konkurencijos taryba approves explanations concerning the assessment of a dominant position* Konkurencijos taryba has adopted the guidance indicating the main principles and criteria used when assessing if an undertaking holds a dominant position, as well as its position in the relevant (...)

European Commission and EU competition authorities encourage companies to seek guidance on cooperation initiatives* Businesses are currently facing particular challenges due to the coronavirus crisis, which may encourage companies to cooperate with each other in order to overcome the negative (...)

KONKURENCIJOS TARYBA HASN’T SPOTTED ANTI-COMPETITIVE AGREEMENTS BETWEEN CONSTRUCTION, REPAIR AND HOUSEHOLD PRODUCT MANUFACTURERS AND SELLERS* Konkurencijos taryba has terminated investigation into the alleged anti-competitive agreement among 7 Lithuanian and Latvian companies engaged in the (...)

KONKURENCIJOS TARYBA HASN’T SPOTTED ANTI-COMPETITIVE AGREEMENTS BETWEEN CONSTRUCTION, REPAIR AND HOUSEHOLD PRODUCT MANUFACTURERS AND SELLERS* Konkurencijos taryba has terminated investigation into the alleged anti-competitive agreement among 7 Lithuanian and Latvian companies engaged in the (...)

Companies fined for obstructing investigation* Konkurencijos taryba found the companies Būsto aplinka and Mano Būsto priežiūra guilty of obstructing the authority‘s officials in carrying out inspection and obtaining documents relevant for the investigation. The companies were fined a total of EUR (...)

Konkurencijos Taryba approves commitments by Lietuvos Paštas* Lietuvos paštas committed to inform other postal service providers about any pricing changes in advance and not to create any obstacles to its competitors operating in the same market. Konkurencijos taryba decided that these (...)

Companies fined for cartel in public tender of cemetery maintenance services* Konkurencijos taryba found that in the public tender of Vilnius city cemetery maintenance services the firms belonging to the group of companies City Service SE concluded a cartel agreement with their competitor (...)

COMPETITORS RECEIVE FINES FOR SHARING TENDER ALLOCATION* Konkurencijos taryba found that companies Pasvalio melioracija, Jadrana, Panevėžio melioracija and Biržų ranga concluded a bid-rigging cartel: cartelists colluded their actions and bids, including bid price, and agreed in advance on the (...)

Driving schools agreed to fix prices of driving lessons* The Lithuanian competition authority Konkurencijos taryba found that 26 driving schools and the Lithuanian association of driving schools (Association) were involved in a cartel that set prices of driving lessons in three cities of (...)

PARTICIPANTS OF AUCTION BY IGNALINA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT DID NOT AVOID LIABILITY FOR CARTEL INFRINGEMENT* Vilnius Regional Administrative Court (Court) upheld the decision of the Lithuanian competition authority Konkurencijos taryba, according to which UAB Norvesta and the German company Sypra (...)

Competition Council closes the investigation into Swedbank actions* The Competition Council closed the investigation into the compliance of Swedbank actions with the requirements of the Law on Competition upon Swedbank submitting written commitments suitable for the elimination of the alleged (...)

Vilnius Regional Administrative Court upholds almost eur 1 million fine imposed on Kauno Grūdai* Vilnius Regional Administrative Court has rejected the appeal by AB Kauno grūdai against the Competition Council’s decision of 9 June 2017, whereby the company was fined EUR 947,700 for implementing (...)

Dispute over competition law infringement on biofuel market returned to Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania* The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania agreed to renew court proceedings concerning an anti-competitive agreement on the biofuel market as requested by the Lithuanian (...)

Supreme Administrative Court upholds Council’s decision: Cinema cartels resulted in fewer discounts for consumers* The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania rejected the appeal by UAB Forum Cinemas against the Competition Council’s decision whereby the company was fined EUR 1,384,300 for (...)

Vilnius Regional Administrative Court: Joint bidding by construction companies restricted competition* Vilnius Regional Administrative Court (the Court) upheld Competition Council‘s decision according to which two Lithuanian construction companies Panevėžio statybos trestas (PST) and Irdaiva (...)

NOTARY FEES SET BY LITHUANIAN CHAMBER OF NOTARIES RESTRICTED COMPETITION* The Competition Council found that the Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries and members of its Presidium concluded an anti-competitive agreement by setting the amount of notary fees and agreeing upon their calculation (...)

Competition Council: Rimi failed to implement merger remedies* The Competition Council reported that UAB Rimi Lietuva (RIMI) failed to implement merger remedies which the authority approved as a condition when clearing the acquisition by RIMI of 100 per cent shareholding and sole control of (...)

Competitors agreed who will win auction by Ignalina nuclear power plant* The Competition Council found that UAB Norvesta and the German company Sypra concluded a cartel agreement while participating in the radioactive scrap metal auction conducted by Ignalina nuclear power plant, and thus were (...)

Competition council: joint bidding of two construction firms restricted competition* The Competition Council found that joint bids submitted by two Lithuanian construction firms UAB Irdaiva and AB Panevėžio statybos trestas (PST) restricted competition “by object”, in breach of Article 5 of the (...)

CARTEL AMONG OCCASION WEAR SHOPS RESULTED IN HIGHER PRICES FOR CONSUMERS* The Competition Council found a number of occasion wear shops operating in Vilnius guilty of a cartel that set a fixed dress try-on fee for customers. Firms received fines ranging from EUR 1 to EUR 1,960, with seven out (...)

Competition Council fines supplier and Distributor of Bone Regeneration Products for Resale Price Maintenance* The Competition Council found the Italian-based supplier Tecnoss Dental and its Lithuanian distributor UAB Implamedica engaged in fixing minimum resale prices of bone regeneration (...)

Ticket distributors failed to suspend merger control procedure* The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (Court) concluded that the company Baltic Ticket Holdings which acquired UAB Nacionalinis bilietų platintojas shall submit a merger filing to the Competition Council which started (...)

Competition Council cleared acquisition of 100 per cent of Palink shares by Rimi Lietuva subject to conditions* On October 18 the Competition Council cleared the acquisition of 100 per cent of UAB Palink (PALINK) shares and control by UAB Rimi Lietuva (RIMI) on condition that RIMI will sell (...)

Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania: Competition Council legitimately blocked merger between malt producers* The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (Court) upheld the Competition Council’s decision, according to which the Council prohibited the acquisition of 100 per cent of (...)

Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania upheld Competition Council’s decision on bid ridding* The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (Court) upheld the Competition Council’s decision on two bid rigging agreements. On 5 November 2015 the Council found that UAB Ministerium, UAB Nebūk (...)

UAB Koncernas Achemos Grupė fined for unnotified merger* The Competition Council found that UAB koncernas Achemos grupė implemented an unnotified merger by acquiring sole control of UAB Jūros vartai and AB KLAIPĖDOS LAIVŲ REMONTAS. For the infringement of the Law on Competition, the Council fined (...)

Competition Council: Merger between classified ads websites restricted competition* On 6 May 2016, the Competition Council (hereinafter – KT) prohibited a merger whereby in 2014 AS Eesti Meedia acquired 100 per cent of AllePAL OÜ shares. KT found that the merger restricted competition in the (...)

New merger notification and examination procedure came into force in Lithuania* Lithuanian Competition Council (the Council) announced that the new Merger Notification and Examination Procedure (the Merger Procedure) had come into force on 1 January 2016. As of that date, all merger (...)

Lithuanian Competition Council detected two cartels by cinema operators* On December 18 Lithuanian Competition Council (KT) announced that three cinema operators, “Forum Cinemas“, “Multikino Lietuva“ and “Cinamon Operations“, had been fixing prices of cinema tickets as part of two separate cartel (...)

Sectorial inquiry into waste management proves lack of competition and transparent pricing* On May 6, the Competition Council launched a study on waste management in Lithuania. The sectorial inquiry was started last February in response to a high number of investigations into municipal (...)

ANTI-COMPETITIVE AGREEMENT BETWEEN MAXIMA LT AND UAB MANTINGA RESULTED IN HIGHER COSTS FOR CONSUMERS* Competition Council (the KT) disclosed an anti-competitive agreement between food retail chain MAXIMA LT, UAB (MAXIMA) and frozen bakery producer UAB Mantinga (Mantinga). The companies fixed (...)

Competition Council disclosed anti-competitive agreement among bidders* The Competition Council (KT) discovered that five building and construction companies, namely UAB Convertus, UAB UGNA, UAB Aketus, UAB Aestus and UAB Gedarta, rigged their bids in the procurement organised by UAB Baltic (...)

COMPETITION COUNCIL CLEARS ACQUISITION OF AB LIETUVOS DRAUDIMAS BY PZU S.A., SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS* On 9 October, the Competition Council (KT) cleared the acquisition of 100 per cent of AB Lietuvos draudimas shares by PZU S.A. The merger was cleared upon the condition that PZU S.A. would sell (...)

UAB G4S LIETUVA restricted competition within the markets of cash handling and cash-in-transit services* The Competition Council (KT) found that the actions of UAB G4S Lietuva (G4S) breached Article 5 of the Law on Competition and Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European (...)

Competition Council calls for opinions on merger commitments proposed by PZU S.A.* Competition Council (KT) calls stakeholders to express their grounded opinions on PZU S.A. (Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń Spółka Akcyjna) commitments to the merger wherein the latter acquires up to 100 per cent of (...)

Competition Council: Viasat conduct does not impede competition* Competition Council (KT) terminated investigation into suspected abuse of dominance by Viasat World Limited and Viasat AS. The KT held that the actions carried out by the companies influence neither effective competition nor (...)

Molėtai and Kaišiadorys district municipalities improperly organised waste management* Competition Council (KT) determined that Molėtai and Kaišiadorys district municipalities (Municipalities) improperly organised waste management and, thus, breached Article 4 of the Law on Competition. (...)

Lithuanian Competition Council fines OAO Gazprom for failing to comply with merger conditions* On 10 June, the Competition Council (KT) imposed a fine of 123,096,700 litas (approx. EUR 35,651,269) on OAO Gazprom for the failure to comply with merger conditions. In 2004, the KT allowed Gazprom (...)

Competition Council clears acquisition of SC Amber Grid shares by JSC EPSO-G* On 19 May, the Competition Council (the KT) cleared acquisition of 38.9 per cent of SC Amber Grid shares by JSC EPSO-G (all the company’s shares together with already owned ones will amount to 56.6 per cent). Hence, (...)

Competition Council fines Lukoil 11 817 700 LTL for implementing non-notified mergers* On 12 May, the Competition Council (the KT) fined UAB Lukoil Baltija 11 817 700 LTL ( ̴ 3 422 642 EUR) for implementing non-notified mergers and obligated the company to eliminate the breach. Having (...)

Competition Council’s investigation encourages the Association LINAVA* The Competition Council (the KT) terminated the investigation into the actions by the Lithuanian National Road Carriers Association LINAVA (the Association). Allegedly, the Associations had breached Article 7 of the Law on (...)

Competition Council reopens investigation into agreements within cash handling market* On April 22, the Competition Council (the KT) reopened the investigation into agreements within cash handling market. It was suspected that the mentioned agreements had failed to comply with the requirements (...)

G4S agreements with banks restricted competition* The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (the Court) confirmed that the agreements concluded between UAB G4S Lietuva (G4S) and the banks, namely, AB SEB bank (SEB), Swedbank, AB (Swedbank) and AB DNB bank (DNB), restricted competition (...)

Supreme Administrative Court upholds competition council‘s decision to sanction Shipping Agency Companies* On 7 April, the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (the Court) approved the Competition Council‘s (the KT) decision concluding that Lithuanian Shipbrokers and Agents Association (the (...)

Competition Council: the agreement among brewers was not based on concerns about the public health only* On 4 March, the Competition Council (the Council) announced that the Lithuanian Guild of Breweries, AB Gubernija, UAB Kalnapilio – Tauro grupė, UAB Restoranas Apynys, TŪB Rinkuškiai, UAB (...)

Competition Council clears acquisition by general electric company of GMC consolidation* On 4 March 2014, the Competition Council (the Council) cleared acquisition by General Electric Company of 100 per cent GMC Consolidation LLC shares. General Electric Company acquires a part of Thermo (...)

Competition council terminates investigation on the actions of Fragrances International* On January 30, the Competition Council (the Council) terminated the investigation on the actions of UAB Fragrances International (Fragrances International) whereby the latter had acquired 49 per cent of (...)

Competition council imposes a fine of 40 000 LTL on Maxima LT, UAB* On January 22, having established that the provisions set forth in MAXIMA LT, UAB (MAXIMA) supply agreements fail to comply with the requirements of the Law on the Prohibition of Unfair Practices of Retailers of the Republic (...)

Competition council closes investigation on suspected anti-competitive agreement between brewers* On December 23 The Competition Council (the Council) closed an investigation on the suspected anti-competitive agreement between the members of the Lithuanian Guild of Breweries. According to the (...)

Possibility to receive full compensation for damages suffered as a result of antitrust violations comes closer* On December 2, the European Union (EU) Competitiveness Council reached a general approach on a draft directive on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for (...)

Competition Council closes investigation on possibly unnotified mergers implemented by UAB Lukoil Baltija within the market of fuel retail trade* On November 6, the Competition Council (the Council) sent a Statement of Objections to UAB Lukoil Baltija suspected of having infringed the Law on (...)

LNK Television acquires Baltijos Television* On 22 May 2013, the Competition Council (Konkurencijos taryba, KT) cleared a merger wherein UAB Laisvas ir nepriklausomas kanalas (LNK) acquired 100 per cent of UAB Baltijos TV (BTV) shares. LNK is engaged in broadcasting of television programs in (...)

Court upholds the KT‘s decision on the infringement but reduces the fines imposed on G4S and banks* On 18 June 2012, Vilnius Regional Administrative Court (Court) upheld the Competition Council’s (Konkurencijos taryba, KT) decision of 20 December 2012, according to which, UAB G4S Lietuva (G4S) (...)