KONKURENCIJOS TARYBA TERMINATES INVESTIGATION INTO ALLEGED BID-RIGGING

Konkurencijos taryba has terminated investigation into the alleged bid-rigging in the public tender for software upgrade and license renewal services among three IT service providers.

On 12 June 2019 the investigation was initiated following allegations that Asseco Lietuva, Atea and IT&T Systems were potentially coordinating their actions in the procurement of software upgrade and license renewal services organized by the Lithuanian transport safety administration.

After analyzing information obtained during the inspections and subsequently collected during the investigation, the experts of Konkurencijos taryba did not find any circumstances allowing to conclude that the aforementioned companies had entered into anti-competitive agreements, thereby restricting competition and breaching the Law on Competition. Therefore, the investigation was terminated.

Upon the occurrence of new circumstances, the investigation may be renewed.

The authority is continuing one more investigation regarding the alleged anti-competitive agreement between companies acting in the IT services sector.

The Law on Competition prohibits all agreements which have the purpose of restricting competition or which restrict or may restrict competition, including agreements to set (fix) prices of certain goods and services, share the product market on a territorial basis, according to groups of buyers or in any other way, agreements to fix the production or sales volume for certain goods, as well as to restrict technical development or investment.