The chairmanship of the Competition Council (CC) will be entrusted to the current Member of the CC’s Council, Kārlis Piģēns. The Acting Chairman will perform the duties until a new Chairman is appointed, who will be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in a competitive procedure.
K. Piģēns has been a Member of the Competition Council since 2022 and has demonstrated his leadership skills and abilities while successfully managing the work of the institution in the absence of the Chairman of the CC.
“The most important task now is to ensure the continuity of the Authority’s activities. The CC will continue to monitor and strengthen competition law in Latvia while maintaining the current course of development and values set out in the institution’s strategy. Work will also continue on the development of the Authority’s IT solutions and other innovations. Also in 2025, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will launch a full audit of the Authority’s activities, while also assessing the effectiveness of Latvia’s competition law instruments and possible improvements. During this year, the CC will also begin providing consultations to public procurement entities on the calculation of loss assessments and the choice of calculation method, as well as providing advisory support to the public procurement entity in calculating the incurred losses for the purpose of filing a claim with the court,” says Acting Chairman K. Piģēns.
K. Piģēns’ work has also been welcomed by international organisations, and in 2025, the CC will continue to participate in the European Competition Network (ECN), the International Competition Network (ICN), the OECD and the Baltic and Eastern European competition authorities’ cooperation formats through working groups, meetings and other cooperation projects.
The four representatives of the CC’s Council – Acting Chairman Kārlis Piģēns and members Deniss Ščeulovs, Inese Druviete and Ēriks Kristiāns Selga, who joined the CC in April 2024 – will continue to serve on the Council (the decision-making body).
K. Piģēns holds a PhD in Law and has previous work experience at the Public Utilities Commission, “Jurista vārds” magazine, senior positions at the Ministry of Economics, the University of Latvia, RISEBA School of Business and Management, Riga Regional Court and Riga District Court.
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.