On September 1, 2025, the Competition Council (CC) adopted a decision in a cartel case concerning the actions of five construction companies that participated in procurements for repair and construction works in utility networks across Latvia. For the competition law violation, the companies were fined a total of EUR 513 508.08.
Based on information provided by SIA “Rīgas namu pārvaldnieks” (hereinafter – RNP) and additional evidence obtained during the investigation, the CC found an infringement of the prohibition on agreements laid down in Article 11 of the Competition Law in the actions of SIA SILTUMTEHSERVISS (hereinafter – SILTUMTEHSERVISS) and SIA Apkure IM (hereinafter – APKURE IM), as well as SIA ADAPTERIS (hereinafter – ADAPTERIS), SIA Alpex (hereinafter – ALPEX), and SIA Infrakom (hereinafter – INFRAKOM).
The investigation established that the prohibited agreement was implemented in two groups, namely between ADAPTERIS, ALPEX, and INFRAKOM, and between SILTUMTEHSERVISS and APKURE IM. The unlawful agreements were identified during the period from 2021 to 2024, significantly distorting competition in more than 30 procurements for construction and repair services in utility networks across Latvia.
In the case of ALPEX, ADAPTERIS, and INFRAKOM, the CC identified particular prohibited agreement episodes in a total of eight public procurements, including those organized by RNP, Ogres namsaimnieks, and Riga City Council Housing and Environment Department. The companies not only exchanged commercially sensitive information but also coordinated participation conditions, the content of bids, and submitted cover bids without any genuine intention to compete.
Meanwhile, between SILTUMTEHSERVISS and APKURE IM, a unified and continuous infringement was identified in 25 procurements related to repair and construction works in utility networks across Latvia, including procurements organized by the municipalities of Līvāni, Valka, and Jelgava, as well as Riga Technical University. Evidence in the case indicates that APKURE IM and SILTUMTEHSERVISS coordinated their decisions on participation, preparation, submission of bids, as well as contract execution and other processes related to public procurements. The investigation revealed that in 11 out of the 25 affected procurements, the two companies submitted seemingly competing bids without any real intention to compete, having previously agreed on the winner of the tender, thereby misleading not only the market as a whole but also supervisory authorities and contracting entities. Furthermore, regardless of the formal tender winner, both companies executed the contracts together, which confirmed that there was no uncertainty between APKURE IM and SILTUMTEHSERVISS regarding participation conditions and that they deliberately exchanged sensitive commercial information and engaged in coordinated actions in the market, thereby avoiding and eliminating competition risks that would normally exist under fair market conditions.
The CC imposed fines on the companies involved, calculated as a percentage of their net turnover in the previous financial year. At the same time, when calculating the fines, the CC took into account that all market participants, except INFRAKOM, entered into settlements with the CC, thereby acknowledging the facts established in the case and committing not to appeal the decision. As a result, the companies that submitted settlement proposals received a 10% reduction in their fines.
"Cartels are the most serious violations of competition law. They artificially reduce competition and can cause significant losses to contracting authorities and society as a whole. This case clearly demonstrates how important the role of contracting authorities is in detecting cartels, considering that the CC initially received information about a possible unlawful agreement between bidders from one of the contracting authorities – RNP. The CC also highly values the fact that almost all parties to the case cooperated with the CC and entered into settlements, thereby acknowledging their violations of the Competition Law and demonstrating an understanding of the benefits of such cooperation. The state also benefits from this – saving human resources in both investigation and potential litigation, which is now possible only regarding the amount of the fine. Moreover, as an agreement was also reached on the payment schedule, the imposed fines will be paid into the state budget. We also call on other contracting authorities to actively monitor procurement processes and report suspicious cases to the CC," emphasized Acting Chairwoman of the CC, I. Šmite.
Support in implementing procedural actions and gathering evidence in this case was provided to the CC by its cooperation partners – the Cybercrime Enforcement Department of the Central Criminal Police Department of State police Latvia and the Tax and Customs Police Department of the State Revenue Service.
The CC draws the attention of public contracting authorities to Article 21 of the Competition Law, which provides that any person who has suffered losses as a result of a competition law infringement has the right to claim and receive damages from the infringer. In cases where the infringement takes the form of a cartel agreement, it is presumed that the infringement has caused harm and resulted in a 10% price increase. At the same time, in line with its new function, the CC will inform public contracting authorities affected by the unlawful agreement established in the Decision about their rights to receive support in identifying, assessing, and calculating potential damages. More information about the support provided by the CC to contracting authorities for recovering damages from competition law infringements can be found in the CC’s methodological material “Cooperation between the Competition Council and public contracting authorities in recovering damages for competition law infringements” published on its website.