Riga, January 29, 2026 — The Latvian authority has identified significant competition restrictions in procurement procedures organised by the Dienvidkurzeme municipality, its municipal agency and a municipally owned company, concluding that unjustified tender requirements substantially limited bidder participation over several years.
The findings follow a completed market monitoring exercise examining vehicle purchase and leasing tenders organised by the municipality and its Communal Administration, as well as territory maintenance and landscaping procurements conducted by municipal company GROBIŅAS HES. The authority found that, between 2021 and 2025, the contracting entities imposed competition-restrictive requirements that prevented a significantly broader pool of bidders from participating and distorted competitive outcomes.
According to the authority, the restrictive conditions led to a situation in which the same companies repeatedly won tenders over an extended period.
Vehicle procurement practices
In its assessment of vehicle procurement since 2021, the authority identified several systematic restrictions that narrowed the pool of eligible bidders and reduced offer diversity.
A recurring issue was the use of a distance criterion requiring vehicle servicing facilities to be located within 20 to 50 kilometres of the contracting authority. The authority said this substantially reduced opportunities for suppliers operating outside the region. It noted that such criteria are less restrictive when used as award criteria rather than qualification requirements and only where they carry limited weight, no more than five to ten points out of 100.
The authority also found that several tenders contained highly specific and closely linked technical specifications relating to engine power, capacity, wheelbase, fuel consumption and equipment. Taken together, these requirements effectively limited eligibility to specific vehicle models and restricted competitive alternatives.
In addition, tenders were frequently not divided into lots despite covering significantly different vehicle categories, such as fully electric cars and off-road vehicles. The authority said this further narrowed competition by excluding suppliers specialising in only one segment.
GROBIŅAS HES tenders
Similar concerns were identified in tenders organised by GROBIŅAS HES between 2023 and 2025. The company repeatedly required bidders to maintain equipment storage facilities within 10 to 15 kilometres of its registered address in Grobiņa.
The authority concluded that this requirement was not objectively justified for routine, pre-planned work such as grass cutting or ditch cleaning, and effectively excluded other potential suppliers. It also found that the criterion continued to be applied even after it had been removed in one tender following objections from market participants.
Commitments following negotiations
In response to the findings, the authority initiated negotiation procedures under Article 14.1 of the Competition Law. The municipality, the Communal Administration and GROBIŅAS HES are committed to addressing the identified shortcomings.
GROBIŅAS HES undertook to remove location-based equipment requirements from future tenders except for emergency or urgent work. The municipality and its agency committed to ensuring that future technical specifications are objective and proportionate, supported by more thorough market research.
The authority recalled that public bodies and state- or municipally owned companies are prohibited from hindering, restricting or distorting competition, a rule in force since January 1, 2020.
