Vilnius, 2 March 2026 – The Competition Council of Lithuania generated an average of €21.3 million in direct expected benefits annually during the 2023–2025 period, meaning that every euro allocated to the authority’s activities resulted in €6.3 in direct benefits for consumers. Indicators of indirect benefits during the same period were several times higher.
The direct benefit indicator reflects savings likely accruing to consumers due to reduced or non-increased prices following the authority’s decisions, such as terminating anti-competitive conduct by companies and public entities, prohibiting mergers, or approving them subject to commitments.
In 2025, part of the expected direct benefit stemmed from the Competition Council’s monitoring of car warranty servicing practices. Following this review, authorised representatives operating in Lithuania changed their practices and enabled customers to carry out maintenance during the manufacturer’s warranty period at independent repair shops. Benefits also resulted from two merger approvals granted subject to commitments aimed at eliminating negative effects in the insurance and road barrier systems sectors, as well as from a decision to prohibit a completed transaction between two news portals, after which one of the portals was sold. The calculation of benefits also took into account the authority’s active role in legislative processes. For example, after considering the authority’s comments regarding procurement without competitive procedures, the Ministry of National Defence allowed a greater number of suppliers to participate, leading to more favourable purchasing prices.
Competition Council Chairwoman Jolanta Ivanauskienė noted that the assessment of direct benefits does not encompass all of the authority’s activities. It does not include benefits arising, for example, from supervision under the Law on the Prohibition of Unfair Practices by Retailers and the Law on the Supervision of Online Intermediation Services and Online Search Engines, the promotion of competition culture among businesses and public authorities, or educational activities.
Fines imposed for infringements are also not included in the direct benefit calculations. However, financial sanctions have a deterrent effect, and the authority’s deterrent impact—calculated for the second consecutive year—is significantly greater than the direct benefits generated.
“The deterrent effect of the authority’s decisions also creates economic, albeit indirect, benefits, as it encourages companies to refrain from unlawful conduct or to cease potential infringements. Thus, the deterrent effect is no less important, and perhaps even more important, than the direct benefits created by the authority,” Ivanauskienė said.
A survey conducted two years ago among Lithuanian businesses and competition law practitioners showed that one prohibited or conditionally approved merger deterred on average 2.6 potentially problematic transactions, while the deterrence coefficient in cases of prohibited agreements reached 46.4, meaning that one infringement decision deters nearly fifty potential prohibited agreements.
According to the Competition Council’s calculations, indirect benefits to consumers resulting from deterrence in the areas of prohibited agreements and mergers during 2023–2025 could amount to up to €188 million, with a budget ratio of up to 1:56. In other words, every euro allocated to the authority’s activities generated up to €56 in expected indirect benefits for consumers.
The Competition Council has calculated direct benefits since 2011 based on the methodology of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The authority aims to maintain a ratio of at least 1:5 between its average annual three-year budget and the average annual three-year direct expected benefits to consumers. However, this ratio may be lower where the authority undertakes strategically significant activities that have strong deterrent effects, enhance legal certainty, ensure its ability to perform its functions, or concern important sectors, but which may generate limited or no direct economic benefits under the methodology.
All impact assessments of the Competition Council’s activities are available on the authority’s website.
