In 2024, the Competition Authority employed 58 people, 66% of whom were women. In 2024, 13 people were hired, contributing to a total turnover rate of 18.69% within the Authority. 96% of our employees have higher education and our average age is 42.6 years.
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In 2024, the total budget of the Estonian Competition Authority was 4,850,651 €.
It should be clarified that this amount includes 600,000 € in compensation for the costs of providing the universal postal service (UPS), which is not used to finance the Authority’s operations. The total budget also includes the budget of the Insolvency Division, which amounted to 449,000 € in 2024, of which 250,000 € were allocated for personnel costs and 199,000 € for operating expenses.
The Competition Authority exercises state supervision over competition, electricity, natural gas, district heating, postal services, public water supply and sewerage, as well as railways, aviation and ports, and fights against unfair trading practices in the agricultural and food supply chain. The Authority is within the area of government of the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs.
The functions of the Competition Authority are divided between two divisions.
The aim of the Authority is to ensure fair competition and just prices. We also place importance on promoting innovation, protecting consumer interests, and ensuring the efficient functioning of markets.
In 2025, the focus of the Competition Division of the Estonian Competition Authority will be on telecommunications services, retail trade, the waste market, and digital markets and platforms – sectors that have recently attracted significant public attention.
Dear Reader,
I am pleased to provide this overview of the activities of the Estonian Competition Authority in 2024. This year, we have taken a slightly different approach, which is also reflected in the structure of this annual report.
The Ministry of Justice has prepared a bill to transpose the European Union DireCtive 2019/1 (ECN+ Directive) to enhance competition supervision, which, as an important aspect, provides for the fining of undertakings outside offence proceedings.
On 1 July 2023, the new Public Water Supply and Sewerage Act entered into force, establishing the bases for planning, organisation and use, the rights and obligations of the state, water undertaking, local government and consumer, state supervision, and liability for violation of the requirements. The bill sets out the principles and bases of pricing the public water supply and sewerage services.
In the autumn of 2022, the Competition Authority commenced a comprehensive mapping of the retail and wholesale competition situation in the motor fuel market.
The aim of the study is to better understand the functioning of these markets, including identifying possible distortions of competition and, where appropriate, providing pro-competitive measures. This is an economic analysis that is not directly intended to identify possible violations of law.
In autumn 2023, the Authority started a market analysis on the charging network of electric cars. The aim of the analysis is to obtain a competition law overview of the public charging network of electric car chargers in Estonia.
In 2023, the Competition Authority focused on the analysis of the consequences of the pharmacy reform. With the reform that came into force in 2020, the right to establish a pharmacy was linked to a restriction of ownership, and general pharmacies previously owned by wholesalers of medicinal products became pharmacies operated by pharmacists.