BUSINESS SURVEY: MOST COMPANIES ARE AWARE OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE LAW ON COMPETITION, BUT EDUCATION IS STILL NEEDED

A survey conducted by Spinter Research on behalf of the Competition Council reveals that more than two-thirds of Lithuanian businesses are aware of the main requirements of competition law, such as the prohibition to enter into anti-competitive agreements. Given the continuing need to raise awareness of competition rules, the Authority will continue to develop and disseminate educational information relevant to business to help more companies assess the risks of infringements.

A survey of 317 companies of different sizes from various sectors of activity showed that the majority of respondents are familiar with the main requirements of the Law on Competition, in particular in the area of anti-competitive agreements. For example, 74% of respondents are aware that competitors are prohibited from agreeing to fix the same prices for goods or services, 73% believe that coordination of commercial offers with competitors in public procurement infringes competition law, and 67% agreed that companies cannot share commercially sensitive information with each other.

Moreover, 77% of respondents correctly pointed out that the Law on Competition prohibits the fixing of resale prices of goods or services, so that suppliers of goods cannot require distributors not to reduce prices and not to apply discounts to consumers. 71% of respondents are aware that an undertaking would be in breach of the Law on Competition if it agreed with competitors not to sell goods to the same customers. According to the survey, large companies with a turnover of more than EUR 10 million in 2023, selling their products or services on the Lithuanian market, are more likely to be familiar with the above-mentioned requirements of the Law on Competition.

Almost two thirds – 65% – of the companies surveyed are aware that the Competition Council's permission would be required if a merger was planned between two of the largest companies in a given sector in terms of revenue, and every second respondent correctly stated that the Law on Competition does not prohibit a company from taking a dominant position in the market.

Jolanta Ivanauskienė, the Chairwoman of the Competition Council, stated that the relatively high awareness of the requirements of the Law on Competition was due to the consistent activity of the institution both in the field of investigations of infringements and dissemination of educational measures.

Nevertheless, she pointed out that too few companies are aware that by informing the Competition Council about their participation in an anti-competitive agreement and providing useful information for the investigation, they may be exempt from fines or expect a reduction. According to survey data, only 43% of companies were aware of this possibility.

Only a quarter of the respondents had heard about the opportunity to receive a reward of up to EUR 100,000 for providing evidence to the Competition Council about a possible anti-competitive agreement.  

According to J. Ivanauskienė, the Competition Council will continue actively informing companies about competition law requirements to help businesses assess the risks of anti-competitive actions. Additionally, there are plans to increase awareness both about the Leniency Program and the possibility for individuals to receive a reward for providing evidence to the Authority.

Businesses themselves are also expected to invest more in strengthening their competition culture. According to the survey, only 17% of respondents confirmed that their employees had received training on competition law enforcement from their employers in the last 2 years.

The results of the survey conducted by Spinter Research in October 2024 are presented in Lithuanian.