Latvia’s Competition Council has identified potential anti-competitive agreements between the country’s two largest food retailers, raising concerns about coordinated pricing and negative impacts on consumers.
Competition Concerns at Major Latvian Retailers
The Competition Council (KP) announced on February 27th that it has found indications of prohibited agreements between the retailers. The KP stated the companies may not have been acting independently and potentially coordinated sales prices.
Horizontal prohibited agreements, such as cartels, represent a serious breach of competition law. Violators may face fines of up to 10% of their worldwide net turnover for the last financial year.
The Competition Council has not publicly named the retailers involved in the investigation. However, the LETA agency reported that procedural actions were carried out on February 26 at the offices of SIA Maxima Latvija in Riga.
Maxima Latvija confirmed that Competition Council employees visited its main office.
According to LETA, the largest food retailers in Latvia are SIA Rimi Latvia, with a turnover of €1.126 billion in 2024, and Maxima Latvija, with a turnover of €1.102 billion.
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