Translated using ChatGPT service.
On November 28, the Saeima approved amendments to the Competition Law in the final reading, assigning a new function to the Competition Council (KP)—providing methodological support to public procurers in identifying, assessing, and calculating losses resulting from competition law violations.
Going forward, the KP will offer consultations to public procurers on loss assessment calculations, selecting appropriate calculation methods, and supporting public procurers in preparing loss claims for submission to the courts.
The law also includes specific conditions for implementing this new function, separating it from the KP’s role in investigating competition law violations within the administrative process to avoid conflicts of interest. This means that the new KP unit will analyze only information submitted by public procurers, and its opinions, calculations, and consultations will have an advisory nature. Additionally, the Chairperson of the Competition Council will oversee the institutional management of this new unit but will not be involved in the substance of its opinions or recommendations.
To encourage public procurers to actively recover losses incurred in procurement processes due to competition law violations by market participants, the Ministry of Economics (EM) developed an informative report titled "On Measures to Promote Active Involvement of Public Procurers in Recovering Losses Caused by Competition Law Violations in Procurement Processes." This report was presented to the Cabinet of Ministers on January 9 of this year.
Following the Cabinet's support for the EM’s proposed solution, the EM and the KP were tasked with drafting amendments to the Competition Law. These amendments formalize the KP’s new role in providing methodological support to public procurers for identifying losses caused by competition violations. The amendments also regulate the collaboration framework, responsibilities, and obligations of public procurers and the KP in the loss recovery process.