Sweden's Gothenburg Port fined for illegal terminal concession

The Swedish Competition Authority (Konkurrensverket) has ordered the Port of Gothenburg to pay SEK1.7 million (US$190,000) in fines after a local court found that the latter had carried out an illegal direct procurement of a service concession of a port terminal.

Konkurrensverket said last week that the Port of Gothenburg entered into a lease agreement for the operation of the Arken intermodal terminal. After a review, a court found that the lease agreement was a service concession that should have been procured according to procurement rules.

The authority added that during the work to get a new agreement in place, and to secure the ongoing operation of the terminal, the port carried out an illegal direct procurement.