The Competition Council (KP) reports data compiled for the year 2022. The council estimates that the average benefit to the public from implementation of competition policy in Latvia between 2020 and 2022 exceeds EUR 51.5 million.
Considering the institution’s budget for the aforementioned period of time,
every EUR 1 provided to the institution generates public benefit worth EUR 26.73.
A large contribution for the benefit of society in 2022 came from not only clearly growing market players’ desire to unite and enhance their positions on the market but also the preventive measures employed by KP in warning market players and promoting discussion procedures. A total of 11 preventive measures were performed in response to minor violations. 16 legal persons received warnings in regards to possible violations of the Law on Competition, implementing their Consult First approach.
KP Chairman Juris Gaiķis stresses: «Neither the number of cases launched over various violations nor the applied penalties, which serve as a preventive measure, showcase the institution’s effectiveness as well as the public benefit from the Competition Council’s work. In the three-year strategic period results have exceeded EUR 51.5 million annually.»
By reducing the variability of the public benefit ratio that comes from the number and size of violations uncovered every year, public benefit is calculated as a three-year average index. The analysis of the three-year period matches KP’s operational strategy period.
«To calculate the public benefit, KP employs the methodology recommended by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), adapting it to peculiarities of the Latvian economy and supplementing it with the recommendations of the European Commission and practical advice from competition supervision institutions,» as reported in KP’s report.
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