In its ruling, which is final and not subject to appeal, the Lithuanian Supreme Administrative Court on Thursday rejected SEB Bankas' request to temporarily suspend the payment of the fine until its dispute with the competition authority is resolved.
Vilnius Regional Administrative Court will hear the dispute on the merits.
SEB Bankas asked the court to take into consideration the size of the fine, which it described as "a criminal sanction," saying that "the payment of the extremely high fine will restrict its property rights."
However, the Supreme Administrative Court rejected SEB Bankas' arguments. According to the court, under the EU law, decisions imposing fines for breaches of competition rules are not considered criminal sanctions and the European Court of Justice emphasizes the deterrent effect of fines for anti-trust violations.
A week ago, the court ruled that Swedbank would have to pay a 14.244-million-litas fine imposed for the same violation.
The Competition Council last December slapped fines totaling 57 million litas on the country's three largest banks - SEB Bankas, Swedbank, and DNB Bankas - and the security firm G4S Lietuva for restricting competition in the cash-in-transit and cash handling services markets.
