On 15 June 2022, the court began hearing the high-profile case known as the 'builders' cartel', in which the Competition Council imposed fines totalling more than 16 million euros on ten construction companies suspected of participating in prohibited agreements, including bid-rigging and the coordination of conditions for participation in tenders. The Competition Council is attempting to prove the existence of a cartel, or prohibited agreement in procurement, in the activities of the ten construction companies, largely based on its own assumptions regarding the text reflected in transcripts of recorded conversations.

Contrary to the builders' cartel case, attempts by competing logging companies to coordinate service price increases and service delivery terms have not triggered similar enthusiasm and fervour from the Competition Council to investigate and establish infringements.

Attempting to agree on price increases and threatening a boycott

The portal diena.lv has learned that in March 2022, the association 'Latvijas Mežizstrādātāju savienība' submitted a complaint to the Competition Council, having discovered that several members of another foresters' association, the 'Latvijas Neatkarīgo Mežizstrādātāju Asociācija', who participated in timber transport service tenders organised by a/s 'Latvijas valsts meži', had allegedly engaged in prohibited discussions regarding the setting of service prices and tariffs and exchanged information related to pricing rules for the execution of procurement contracts. (...)