Court bars "VTU Valmiera" from serving part of new Vidzeme bus routes

A court has barred the bus operator "VTU Valmiera" from serving part of the new passenger transport routes in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. The ruling concerns a public procurement in which the company was the winner, and it means the company may not operate part of the routes.

From a photograph to the courts

The news portal Apollo.lv has covered the case before. A photograph of buses, posted with a cheerful message about readiness to serve the new Vidzeme routes, revealed a violation of the procurement rules.

The core of the dispute

The dispute turns on whether a tender winner may bring in a third company to deliver the service. The question has once again reached the Senate of the Supreme Court, Latvia's highest court instance.

The source gives no further details on the court's reasoning, the number of routes affected or when the changes take effect.