Advertising, Estonia, Financial Services, Legislation, Real Estate

Kristina Kostina, spokesperson for the Office of the Prosecutor General, confirmed to BNS that criminal proceedings to identify the circumstances of the case have been opened according to the Penal Code section which deals with making agreements or decisions undermining competition as well as concerted action in the field. "At the moment no suspects have been questioned in relation to that criminal case," Kostina said.

Real estate firms Uus Maa, Arco Vara, Pindi Kinnisvara, CKE, Domus Kinnisvara, LVM, Ober Haus, 1Partner, RE Kinnisvara, LAAM and Kinnisvaraekspert announced at the end of March that they were ending cooperation with the real estate portal Kv.ee. The 11 companies named changes to the pricing model, which caused an increase in the expenses of larger firms, as the main reason for the termination.

Director general of the Estonian Competition Authority Mart Ots at the beginning of April disapproved the joint boycott by businesses. "Any kind of joint boycott is reprehensible under competition law. Undoubtedly this joint agreement, this joint boycott is not favored," Ots said.

Kv.ee is part of Eesti Meedia Group, which also owns Baltic News Service.