Levikom contests decision not to launch criminal proceedings against SDE MP

The state wants to auction off three 5G frequencies, a move which, according to Levikom, artificially limits competition in the market.
The state wants to auction off three 5G frequencies, a move which, according to Levikom, artificially limits competition in the market. Source: Siim Lõvi /ERR

Levikom Eesti OÜ said it does not agree with the decision not to launch criminal proceedings against Social Democratic Party (SDE) MP and chair of the Riigikogu's anti-corruption select committee Katri Raik and have appealed to the Office of the Prosecutor General.

Levikom said selective changes and omissions have been made to the minutes of a January 16 meeting of the select committee which conceal the corrupt and cartel-like conduct associated with the granting of 5G frequency licenses.

The meeting was attended by Siim Sikkut, deputy secretary general of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Tonu Nirk, head of the department for communication at the ministry, and Kaur Kajak, director general of the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority.

The sitting was driven by an application of Levikom's regarding the 5G frequency competition. All those invited to the committee sitting are involved in the preparations for the 5G frequency competition and are within the circle of persons making decisions related to that.

Toomas Peek, chairman of the management board of Levikom, told BNS in mid-February: "The minutes of the sitting of the anti-corruption select committee were disclosed on January 27 and it was revealed upon inspection of the minutes that they did not contain the actual statements made at the sitting, meaning that wordings have been arbitrarily distorted or that important statements have been left out altogether. By distorting the wordings in such a way and selectively reflecting them in the minutes, attempts have been made to conceal the corrupt and cartel-like conduct associated with the granting of 5G frequency licenses,"

Social Democratic Party member Katri Raik. Source: Ken Mürk/ERR

On February 18 the company filed a report of criminal offense against Raik on the basis of sections of the Penal Code concerning influence peddling and counterfeiting or falsification of documents by officials in connection with falsification of the minutes of the committee's January 16 sitting. On February 26, the prosecutor's office decided not to start processing the crime report.

Raik has denied the accusations and said she does not know how Levikom have made them as they did not attend the meeting.

Since 2018, Levikom has been attempting to convince the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications to not prefer foreign mobile operators Elisa, Telia and Tele2 in the issuance of 5G frequency permits and not block the arrival on the market of other new generation service and network providers, nor forcefully take away the existing frequency resources from wireless internet providers in rural areas.

The company said the ministry has completely ignored Levikom's compromise proposal, which would allow the use of the portion of the 5G frequency band used for mobile connection to be fully used by mobile operators.

On this basis, Levikom said, the ministry represents the commercial interests of mobile operators who are jointly dominant in the market in a biased way and against the Estonian public interest.

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Editor: Helen Wright

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