Commission for Protection of Competition hosted a delegation of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation in a three-day Study visit. FAS delegation, comprised of Ms. Elena Vladimirovna Beresneva, Advisor in the Department for Control over Chemical Industry and Agro-industrial Complex, and Ms. Julia Alekseyevna Haptaeva, Head Advisor in the Organizational and Analytical Department of the FAS Buryatia Regional Office, has been introduced with the organizational and operational structure of the Commission.

In the course of the Study visit, a series of lectures and workshops has been held during which employees of the Commission have shared experiences in regard to operational activities in detecting competition infringements, investigating market concentrations and preparing economic inquiries. Particular attention was placed on presenting proceedings that the Commission has conducted during the previous period, mainly concerning cases of prohibited agreements and abuses of dominance, as well as their influence on achieving equal conditions for all undertakings on specific markets. Also, cases of investigation proceedings conducted during the previous period by the Competition Infringements Division have been presented, in addition to the findings of economic inquiries, as well as operational plans of the Economic Inquiry Division.

This is the second Study visit of the FAS representatives to the Commission, organized pursuant to the Agreement on Cooperation signed during 2012 between the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation and the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia. In accordance with the above-mentioned Agreement, seminars and training courses have been previously organized in the FAS Training Center in Kazan for the Commission Administrative and Professional Service staff, in addition to the previous year’s Study visit of the Russian colleagues in Serbia.

The visit is estimated as an outstanding manner of achieving bilateral cooperation between competition authorities and extremely useful tool towards accomplishing the exchange of experiences between employees of the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia and the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation.

President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Dr. Miloje Obradović, received a visit of the Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Republic of Serbia, H.E. Alona Fisher Kamm.

Dr. Obradović introduced Ambassador Fisher Kamm with competences of the Commission for Protection of Competition and presented activities implemented to date, along with plans aimed at advancing and advocating competition policy in Serbia.

President of the Commission also expressed a desire for the Embassy of Israel in Belgrade to convey a substantial interest of the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia to intensify cooperation with the Israeli competition authority, as one of the most developed and organized in the world.

Israeli Ambassador thanked for the invitation and emphasized that the role of the Embassy of Israel in Belgrade is foremost, to facilitate position of the current and attract new Israeli investments in Serbia. Also, Her Excellency expressed a pleasure concerning instituted initiative of the Commission for Protection of Competition that might result in a more intensive cooperation and exchange of experiences between two authorities, with the objective of advancing economic environment in Serbia.

During the last year, the Commission for Protection of Competition has conducted the Sector Inquiry on Competition Issues in Aftermarkets (Serbian version only). These markets encompass, inter alia, provision of guarantees, repair services, turnover and use of spare parts for motor vehicles and best-selling home appliances – refrigerators and washing machines.
The main goal of this inquiry was to establish the structure and relations between undertakings, their market shares and market power, with the objective of detecting potential market vulnerabilities, that is, existence of conditions leading to the infringement of competition.

Since the adoption of this document and introduction of the general public with its findings, the Commission has been intensively involved in additional reviewing of this document, in the context of existence of potential competition infringements effected by undertakings operating in these sectors.

To this effect, the Commission came to certain findings that necessary may not mean that particular acts performed on these markets by a part of undertakings are considered to be prohibited, but that may pose a threat to competitive behavior and present endangerment of equivalence of all undertakings on the said markets.

The Commission formulated derived findings in the following documents – Information of Findings and Positions of the Commission regarding the Motor Vehicles Aftermarkets Inquiry, and Information of Findings and Positions of the Commission regarding the Home Appliances Aftermarkets Inquiry.

In these documents, the Commission has in more details elaborated on particular elements of business operations performed on the part of undertakings operating in the motor vehicles and home appliances aftermarkets, and expressed the concern due to the specific segments of contractual relations between undertakings that may indicate to potential competition infringements.

The Commission forwarded these findings to competent state authorities, business associations, as well as undertakings operating in the motor vehicles and home appliances aftermarkets, in order to forewarn them of the possibility of becoming the subject of the Commission’s proceedings in the case of failing to amend certain segments of agreements arranged with their suppliers or dealers.

On May 29, 2017, the Commission for Protection of Competition has instituted proceedings for investigating competition infringement ex officio against Frozen Food Industry “Frikom” LLC Belgrade, on the grounds of determining the existence of abuse of dominance on the ice cream distribution and sale markets. On the following day, May 30, 2017, authorized officials of the Commission have carried out a dawn raid in the premises of “Frikom” company.

Namely, by implementing legal competences concerning the use of an instrument that is found to be extremely efficient in detecting various forms of competition infringements, authorized officials of the Commission have carried out a dawn raid in “Frikom” LLC, and on the occasion performed an inspection of business premises, i.e. data, documents and belongings in two locations in Belgrade, whereby the party concerned and proprietor of premises and belongings have been informed on the matter only when the dawn raid was taking place.

Dawn raid is an instrument available to the Commission for Protection of Competition, pursuant to Articles 52 through 55 of the Law on Protection of Competition with the objective of detecting and preventing acts or actions of undertakings that as their purpose or effect have or may have a significant restriction, distortion, or prevention of competition.

Considering that the proceedings is only recently instituted, and that dawn raid is just one of the manners in which the Commission can collect necessary evidence, all persons in possession of data, documentation or other relevant information that might contribute to the fact-finding in this proceedings are called upon to submit the said to the Commission for Protection of Competition to the address: 25 Savska St., Belgrade.