The National Economy, Agrarian, Environmental and Regional Policy Commission of the Saeima instructs the Cabinet of Ministers (MK) to evaluate within one month the possibility of terminating the procurement contracts concluded with SIA “Latvijas svetiskais autobuss” (LSA), AS “Liepājas busu parks” (LAP) and AS “Nordeka” , including collecting damages, as well as evaluating the legal consequences and risks related to the termination of contracts, the deputies decided today at the meeting.
The Cabinet of Ministers should involve the Ministry of Economy (ME), the Ministry of Finance (MF), the Ministry of Transport (MF), the Ministry of Justice (TM) and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM) in the evaluation according to the competence of the relevant ministry.
It is also ordered to evaluate within one month the possibility of ensuring continuous provision of public transport services in the network of routes of regional importance, including announcing new procurement tenders.
On the other hand, within three months, the MK has been instructed to evaluate whether it is necessary to make amendments to the regulatory acts regulating the relevant field of law, including regarding the content of the procurement contract.
The Saeima must then be informed about all decisions.
It has already been reported that at the beginning of January, the KP imposed a fine in the amount of EUR 1.975 million on three regional passenger carriers – LAP, “Nordeka” and “Latvijas sovestikais autobuss” for prohibited agreements in regional passenger transport.
Fines have been applied to the companies for the agreement in procurements organized by ATD on the provision of public transport services by buses on routes of regional significance for 10 years.
KP has concluded that LAP, “Nordeka” and LSA, in order to obtain the right to provide services on routes as close as possible to the established limit – 15 million kilometers per year – mutually exchanged commercially sensitive information not only about the distribution of lots, but also about the conditions of participation in procurements, by agreeing , for example, on participation or non-participation in the specific lot, as well as on the form of participation in procurement – individually or forming associations.
All three companies have appealed to the court regarding the decision of the KP.
On the other hand, ATD board chairman Kristiāns Godiņš said last week at the meeting of the National Economy, Agrarian, Environmental and Regional Policy Commission that ATD has received an independent legal evaluation regarding the decision of the KP on the regional carriers’ cartel, and according to that, the termination of the contracts with the participating carriers can be evaluated when the decision has become final and irrevocable. He said that the deadline for appealing the KP decision was last week – if it is not appealed to the court, it comes into force immediately, while if it is appealed, it comes into force if the court recognizes that the company’s actions were illegal.
He also explained that the possible consequences of breaking contracts should be taken into account. If ATD breaks the contracts, but then the court recognizes that the decision of the KP was only partially justified, then ATD has an impact of EUR 70 million.
LAP’s turnover in 2021 was 15.406 million euros, which is 41% more than the year before, but the company’s profit increased several times, reaching 3.603 million euros.
According to the KP decision of March 29, 2022 regarding the finding of a violation of the Competition Law in LAP activities, the minority shareholder (34.85%) of the company is Liepāja municipality, while SIA “LAP1R” owns 59.83% of the shares, which, according to “Firmas.lv” data , is partially owned by the families of Andras Škēle (67%) and Ainārs Šleser (LPV) (33%).
The turnover of “Nordeka” in 2021 was 9.9 million euros, which is 21.8% less than the year before, and it worked with a loss of 220,000 euros, as opposed to a profit a year earlier. “Nordeka” was registered in 1991, and its share capital is 2.669 million euros. The true beneficiary of the company is Juris Savickis.
LSA, on the other hand, had a turnover of 8.474 million euros in 2021, which is almost 4.4 times more than the year before, while the company’s profit increased 2.7 times – up to 49,767 euros. The company was registered in 1996, and its share capital is 445,797 euros. LSA is owned by SIA “B-Bus”, which in turn is owned by “PTC Consulting”, a company registered in Ireland. The real beneficiary of the company is Vitalijs Komars.
