VILNIUS CITY MUNICIPALITY IS SUSPECTED OF ANTITRUST VIOLATION

Competition Council (KT) closed the investigation concerning Vilnius City Municipality (Municipality) decision to establish a taxi company VŠĮ Vilnius veža. Preliminary conclusions of the Council state that the decision fails to comply with the Law on Competition.

Having conducted an in-depth investigation, the KT’s experts found that establishment of VŠĮ Vilnius veža created the conflict of interests as the Municipality got involved into a self-administered economic activity. Further municipal decisions regarding VŠĮ Vilnius (e.g. to provide subsidies for the company) confirmed that the conflict of interests did influence the conditions of activities carried out within the market of taxi services. Municipality claimed that VŠĮ Vilnius veža was established seeking to legalize taxi business and improve taxi services in Vilnius city. However, the latter did not convince the KT’s experts as there is a number of other taxi companies functioning without municipal support.

According to preliminary findings the Municipality favoured VŠĮ Vilnius veža and, thus, discriminated against other market participants.

The Statement of Objections sent to the Municipality included the KT’s suggestion to eliminate the possibility for VŠĮ Vilnius veža to operate within the market of taxi services.

Notice:

The fact that the KT has informed the suspected undertaking about the conclusions of an investigation does not mean that the infringement has already been established. Statement of Objections is a document issued by the authorised officers of the KT and sent to the stakeholders. This document is not announced publicly. Having received the Statement of Objections, a suspected undertaking is given an opportunity to familiarize with the material of an investigation and provide a written explanation. Explanations can also be provided orally during the meeting where both parties to the case are heard. The KT takes into consideration all the explanations before adopting the final decision.