PERSONS PROVIDING SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION ABOUT INVESTIGATIONS ALREADY BEING CONDUCTED BY THE COMPETITION COUNCIL MAY RECEIVE A MONETARY REWARD

The Competition Council invites persons who possess information about the institution’s ongoing investigations in the dairy processing and coffee machine distribution sectors to contact its experts. Whistleblowers may receive rewards of up to EUR 100,000 for providing evidence and valuable information.

Having launched an investigation earlier this year, the Competition Council is examining whether several Lithuanian dairy processing companies may have entered into a cartel agreement and coordinated raw milk purchase prices among themselves. Natural and legal persons possessing significant information regarding this potential infringement of the Law on Competition and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) are encouraged to contact the institution by phone at +370 602 48789, +370 607 85925, or by email at praneskmums@kt.gov.lt.

The Competition Council is also midway through an investigation into the activities of the Estonian company Rickman Trade, which distributes coffee machines, following suspicions that the supplier may have coordinated and fixed the prices of Jura coffee machines with members of its distribution network. Persons possessing information regarding this possible infringement of the Law on Competition and the TFEU are invited to contact the institution’s experts by phone at +370 602 49687, +370 607 85929, or by email at praneskmums@kt.gov.lt.

“Individuals who submit evidence related to investigations already being conducted by our institution may also qualify for a reward. Any information held by market participants may be significant to our investigations  and, if such information proves useful, the persons providing it may be eligible for a reward of up to EUR 100,000”, said Daumantas Grikinis, Head of the Anti-competitive Agreements Investigation Group, emphasizing that the Competition Council always ensures the confidentiality of whistleblowers’ identities.

The specific amount of the reward is determined taking into account the added value of the evidence, the severity, duration, and impact of the infringement on consumers, as well as the level of cooperation with the institution by the person providing the evidence, the degree of risk incurred, and other relevant circumstances.

The Competition Council currently has grounds to suspect possible infringements of the Law on Competition in the aforementioned sectors; however, the ongoing investigations do not in themselves mean that such infringements exist. If anti-competitive agreements are established, undertakings may face fines of up to 10 percent of their total worldwide annual turnover. By cooperating with the institution, companies may benefit from the Leniency Programme and reduce the potential sanction by up to 50 percent.

The Competition Council reminds that persons may submit evidence regarding a suspected anti-competitive agreement through the electronic form available on the Competition Council’s website, by email at praneskmums@kt.gov.lt, by post (Jogailos St. 14, Vilnius), or in person at the Competition Council. Consultations are also available by phone at +370 601 62375.