Merko Ehitus

Legal Proceedings Report • Dec 23, 2025

Supreme court judgement in the cassation against the decision of the Latvian Competition Council

Supreme court judgement in the cassation against the decision of the Latvian Competition Council

With the 09.08.2021 stock exchange announcement
(https://view.news.eu.nasdaq.com/view?id=b27f14eea0dadc5388c582f5ac7a3752d&lang=
en), AS Merko Ehitus disclosed information concerning the decision of the
Latvian Competition Council according to which the group's then subsidiary SIA
Merks is considered one of the nine companies involved in the prohibited
cooperation of Latvian construction companies during the period 2015-2019, which
means a violation of Section 11(1) of the Latvian Competition Act. Latvian
Competition Council does not accuse the companies in the price-fixing. The
decision of the Competition Council was largely based on conversation
transcripts that were handed over by the Latvian Corruption Prevention and
Combating Bureau (KNAB) which conducted wiretapping during surveillance
activities.

Prior to the decision, the company was able to express its views on the raised
accusations in writing once and participate in one meeting of the Latvian
Competition Council. SIA Merks and AS Merko Ehitus contested the legality of the
Latvian Competition Council's decision in the Latvian District Court due to
manifest procedural and substantive mistakes, about which AS Merko Ehitus
notified with the 09.13.2021 stock exchange announcement
(https://view.news.eu.nasdaq.com/view?id=b81cdc6254ddd731f0a9eed6e16f39a0a&lang=
en). The Latvian District Administrative Court did not satisfy the appeal, and
therefore a cassation appeal was filed with the Supreme Court of Latvia, about
which we notified in a stock exchange announcement on 26.02.2024
(https://view.news.eu.nasdaq.com/view?id=1277458&lang=en). Additional comments
have been published in interim and annual reports, all materials have been
available in the corresponding subsection
(https://group.merko.ee/en/investors/latvian-competition-council-proceeding/) of
AS Merko Ehitus' website.

Today, 23 December 2025 the Supreme Court of Latvia announced its decision
declaring the use of information collected through surveillance activities in
administrative proceedings inadmissible, annulled the decision of the Latvian
District Administrative Court of 25.02.2024 in its entirety, and remanded the
case to the Latvian District Administrative Court for retrial.

Merko Ehitus group remains committed to promoting and implementing ethical
business standards and behaviour, as well as compliance with all applicable laws
and regulations governing business practices. Any possible infringement of fair
competition is in violation of the operating principles and values of the group.

Urmas Somelar
Head of Group Finance
AS Merko Ehitus
+372 650 1250
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

AS Merko Ehitus (group.merko.ee (https://group.merko.ee/en/)) group companies
construct buildings and infrastructure and develop real estate. We create a
better living environment and build the future. We operate in Estonia, Latvia,
and Lithuania. As at the end of 2024, the group employed 605 people, and the
group's revenue for 2024 was EUR 539 million.