The Competition Council has identified signs of a prohibited agreement between the two largest food retail companies, which may not have acted independently and may have coordinated their product sales prices, negatively affecting consumer interests, the Council reports.
The Competition Council does not name the retailers, but the description “the two largest food retail companies” leaves no doubt that Maxima and Rimi are under suspicion. On February 26, employees of the Competition Council, accompanied by the police, carried out searches in both companies.
The Competition Council stresses that horizontal prohibited agreements, or cartels, are among the most serious violations of competition law, and therefore market participants who commit such an infringement may be fined up to 10% of their net turnover worldwide in the last financial year, for each of them.
The purpose of the Competition Council’s procedural actions is to verify the existence of a possible infringement in the conduct of the specific market participants against whom an investigation case has been initiated, by obtaining the necessary information and evidence during the procedural actions. The Competition Council emphasizes that an infringement can only be established at the end of the Council’s case investigation process, after all information obtained during the procedural actions and additionally by the Competition Council has been compiled and assessed, and the market participants have been heard.
The Competition Council invites suppliers and any other person to report to the Council if they possess information that may be useful in the investigation of the case. The Competition Council guarantees the anonymity of information providers.
Report a violation: https://www.kp.gov.lv/lv/zinot-par-parkapumu
The Competition Council also invites market participants involved in a possible infringement of the provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to make use of the opportunities offered by the Leniency Programme and thereby apply for a significant reduction of the fine.
Leniency Programme: https://www.kp.gov.lv/lv/iecietibas-programma
Originally published at https://inc-baltics.com/maxima-un-rimi-tur-aizdomas-par-aizliegtu-vienosanos/
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