Record-high penalty payment in a unique procurement matter

We successfully represented TampereMissio Palvelut Oy in Finland's largest unlawful direct award case against the Pirkanmaa Wellbeing Services County (Pirha), the largest wellbeing services county of Finland. Following our client's appeal, the Market Court imposed a record-high penalty payment of EUR 500,000 on Pirha. Earlier, the most significant unlawful direct award matter handled by the Market Court was 16.8 million euros, which resulted in a penalty payment of EUR 200,000.

Our involvement began already with filing a complaint to the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (the FCCA) in late 2024. Based on our complaint, the FCCA held that Pirha had made illegal direct awards worth almost EUR 55 million, making it the largest annual value in the FCCA's investigation history.

This case is truly unique and marks notable firsts, as it is reportedly the first time a complaint was made to the FCCA before any direct awards had been made. Additionally, TampereMissio Palvelut Oy's appeal represented the first time that an appeal regarding direct award decisions has been made to the Market Court following the FCCA's investigation.

The case is currently pending before the Supreme Administrative Court following the contracting authority's appeal.