On 14 September 2022, the Administrative Regional Court of the Republic of
Latvia decided to stay the proceedings that have been ongoing since 2014 between
KIA Auto AS, Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp AS and the Latvian Competition Council
regarding the alleged conflict of competition law of the warranty conditions of
KIA Auto AS that were valid in the period of 2004-2009 and the legality of the
penalty in the amount of 135 thousand euros. The proceedings were stayed based
on the application of the Latvian Competition Council to further evaluate the
factual circumstances of the case and refer questions to the Court of Justice of
the European Union. The average time to obtain a preliminary ruling is
approximately one and a half years. After receiving the preliminary ruling, the
proceedings will resume in the regional court in Latvia.
On 22 December 2021, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Latvia returned the
case to the regional court, indicating that a full review of the alleged anti-
competitive behavior, including its impact on the market, needs to be carried
out and that it also needs to be verified if the assessment conducted by the
Latvian Competition Council has been thorough, accurate and whether a proper
market analysis has been conducted. In turn, the Latvian Competition Council
requested from the regional court to refer the case to the Court of Justice of
the European Union for a preliminary ruling on the constituent elements of the
review to find a restriction of competition "by effect" within the context of
the warranty conditions of KIA Auto AS that were valid in the period of
2004-2009, and the standard of proof required of competition authority to prove
the alleged violation.
Raul Puusepp
Chairman of the Management Board
Tel +372 731 5000
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