7 January was the last day of work of the Chairman of the Competition Council (CC), Juris Gaiķis, after almost five years in office.
Juris Gaiķis, Chairman of the CC: “I cannot say that working for the Competition Council has not been demanding – the challenges of Covid-19 and remote working when taking up the post, the most notorious collusion cases that have been accepted, as well as the need to improve the internal working environment, fighting for the well-being of employees and adequate remuneration, thus reducing staff turnover in the Authority. I can say that we have come through this successfully as a united team. And it is the staff of the CC who are the greatest asset of the Authority, as their dedication, commitment and conscious motivation to achieve their goals have been the cornerstone in ensuring respectful and fruitful cooperation.”
Since 2020, the Authority has adopted more than 100 decisions, including decisions on the most serious competition law infringements, such as cartel cases – the builders’ cartel, the passenger carriers’ cartel and the road construction cartel. In almost five years, 28 undertakings have been fined and 178 persons have been warned for minor infringements. In total, fines of more than EUR 31 million have been imposed.
35 instances of market surveillance were carried out over the five years, including rapid responses to the situation in economic sectors and pro-active competition assessments in key markets for society, such as fuel, food and fuel wood chips. It should be noted that by launching market surveillance in the retail food market, the CC was the first to publicly open a dialogue with policymakers on the need to address food retail price increases and to focus on fair cooperation along the food and agricultural supply chain that would not be detrimental to the end consumer.
Meanwhile, the CC’s surveillance of the wood chip market was internationally recognised: the CC received the highest award at the International Competition Network (ICN) Forum for its assessment of competition in the wood chip market, investigating the reasons for price increases in 2021 and 2022 and making recommendations to strengthen competition in the market, proving itself to be a small but effective institution whose views are heard by industry, business partners and policymakers.
J. Gaiķis took up his duties as Chairman of the CC on 14 September 2020. On 7 January this year, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a decision to relieve Juris Gaiķis of his duties as Chairman of the CC. Juris Gaiķis will now chair the Latvian Digital Health Centre.