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Thursday, 18.04.2024, 01:14
De facto: Volkswagen dealerships allegedly organized tenders on behalf of officials in Latvia
E-mail correspondence reveals that Volkswagen dealerships signed all the necessary automobile technical documentation on behalf of officials, as well as requested their competitors to refrain from participating in the said tenders.
"De facto" indicates that almost half of automobiles, purchased from 2007 to 2012 for Liepaja City Council or its institution, were provided by Volkswagen dealership SD Autocentrs.
According to "De facto", SD Autocentrs probably organized the tenders on its own, namely, wrote the technical specification, called upon fictitious participants, and procured the necessary automobile on its own.
As reported, the Competition Council has fined official Volkswagen dealerships and importers a total of EUR 7.6 million for forming a cartel.
Six companies – SD Autocentrs, Ripo Autocentrs, Moller Auto Krasta, Moller Auto Ventspils, Moller Auto Latvia, and the importer of Volkswagen automobiles in the Baltic countries, Moller Baltic Import, have been ordered to pay a fine of EUR 7,635,183 for being members of a cartel. One more company has been fully exempted from the fine as the information it had provided helped the Competition Council break up the cartel.