Construction, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Funds, Latvia, Legislation, Real Estate

The violation was discovered after one of the other companies involved in the cartel turned to the CC with information, and this company has since been exempt from a fine. RCI Gulbene, as the initiator of the cartel, has been fined that above mentioned amount.

Both companies participated in three tenders worth a total of EUR 684,770, and mutually agreed not to compete with one another. Two of the tenders were construction works at agricultural enterprises, while the third was a local government school. Furthermore, EU funding was involved in all three construction projects.

According to the scheme, one of the company's submitted a real estimate, while the other submitted an inflated one. RCI Gulbene won the tenders, as it has submitted the actual estimates, and paid the other company three percent of the contract figure as a ''reward''.

This is the first such case in Latvia when such a violation has been uncovered after being reported under the new leniency program.

The leniency program allows any company, who is or has been involved with illegal contracts, to report about them to the Competition Council out of own volition, submit evidence about the violations, and to receive full immunity from punishment. The majority of competition rights violations in Western European countries are very hard to trace; they are revealed only following information acquired from leniency program reports, the Competition Council says.