The Lithuanian Competition Council announced Thursday that it had determined MM Grupp took control of Forum Cinemas Lithuania in April 2021 and used that control to integrate the company's cinemas in Vilnius and Kaunas into Apollo, the cinema chain owned by MM Grupp.

According to LRT, the council also found that the Estonian conglomerate is in the process of dividing up Forum Cinemas' Lithuanian operations and restructuring the company for that purpose.

The fine issued to MM Grupp amounts to 0.8 percent of the group's consolidated annual revenue.

The competition authority also ordered MM Grupp to remedy the violation within six months — either by obtaining regulatory approval and selling the company to a new buyer or by restoring the previous situation, meaning returning it to its former owner, Odeon Cinemas Group.

MM Grupp has the option of appealing the decision in administrative court.

In August, ERR reported that MM Grupp had expressed frustration with the prolonged procedures of the Lithuanian Competition Council and suspected the authority of deliberately targeting the company. As a result, the group sought assistance from Estonia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which attempted to clarify the situation in talks with Lithuanian officials.

At the time, Kristel Volver, a member of MM Grupp's management board, told ERR that the company believes the competition authority has targeted various MM Grupp investments and subsidiaries in Lithuania.

Volver said MM Grupp complies with Lithuanian laws and binding court rulings and values transparent communication with the country's competition regulator, but said there is something fundamentally wrong with how the case has been handled. She added that the situation should serve as a warning to all foreign investors operating in Lithuania.

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