President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Dr. Miloje Obradović, received a visit of the Romanian Ambassador to Serbia, H.E. Oana-Cristina Popa.

Dr. Obradović introduced Ambassador Popa to current activities, as well as plans of the Commission for Protection of Competition directed toward advancing and promoting competition policy in our country.

During the talks, President Obradović emphasized that excellent cooperation achieved by the Commission for Protection of Competition with the Romanian Competition Council, this year resulted in the Romanian competition authority titled as the honorable “Guest host” during the Competition Day of Serbia, ultimately results in more qualitative development of the institution he heads. This cooperation is of particular importance bearing in mind the fact that the Romanian Competition Council this year marks the 20th year operations anniversary, with the first ten years operating as an authority of the EU accession country, while during the last decade as its member.

To this effect, both parties jointly identified the need for intensive cooperation between the two authorities to be further advanced. The meeting was also attended by Marko Obradović, member of the Council of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Mihaela Osorio, Deputy Head of Mission, and Stefan Imre, Minister Counselor at Embassy of Romania in Belgrade.

The 16th Annual conference of the International Competition Network (ICN) held in Portugal was attended by Mr. Čedomir Radojčić, member of the Council of the Commission for Protection of Competition.

Nominated topics of this year’s conference of the International Competition Network, comprising of competition authorities from around the world as its members, are chosen in accordance with current challenges arising from the implementation of competition policy. In such manner, more than 600 participants had an opportunity to share experiences from the competition policy implementation processes. Activities that might contribute to increasing successfulness of leniency programs were particularly discussed, as well as tools that might enhance competition advocacy related efforts.

The focus of discussions were placed on transformed conditions of competition authorities’ operational activities brought by globalization and new technologies, bearing in mind the practice demonstrating that globalization is leading towards increased protectionism in developed economies, while the new digital age is also bringing considerable changes in the notion of competition, since in the Internet-operated world, monopolistic position is becoming the rule, rather than the exception.

At the special ceremony held during the conference, the Commission for Protection of Competition received the Honorable Mention Award of the 2016-2017 Competition Advocacy Contest – Elevating Competition Policies in Economic Policy Agendas: “Innovative Advocacy Strategies to Address Market Challenges”, launched by the International Competition Network (ICN) and the World Bank Group (WBG). Submitted story, written by Ms. Gordana Bulatović, Chief of Staff to the Office of the Commission President and Coordinator of the International Cooperation Affairs of the Commission, was entered into one of the categories presented – “Implementing advocacy strategies at multiple levels (regional, national, subnational – economic wide and sector specific)”.

This year’s conference program that gathered more than 600 representatives of competition authorities worldwide, is jointly prepared by the International Competition Network (ICN) and the Portuguese Competition Authority (AdC).

President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Dr. Miloje Obradović, has presented a research paper on the topic: “The role of the Commission for Protection of Competition in the economic and regulatory reforms: Current trends and future challenges” during the academic conference entitled “Structural reforms and the role of regulatory authorities in Serbia”. The coauthors of this research paper were Dr. Siniša Milošević, Head of the Deparmetn for Economic Inquiries of the Commission, and Dr. Dragan Lončar, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade.

In his address, Dr. Obradović presented main elements on the functioning of the Commission for Protection of Competition, in addition to the main provisions of the Law on Protection of Competition. Particular emphasis was placed on the cooperation with regulatory authorities and public institutions and organizations, but also on directions of future developments concerning competition policy in Serbia, keeping in mind the elements of the European Commission’s new draft directive aimed toward enhancing operations of the EU competition authority.

The main goal of the academic conference entitled “Structural reforms and the role of regulatory authorities” was to present research results as potential contributions to creating a favorable institutional framework and foundations for more efficient economic development of Serbia. The organizer of this event was the Scientific Society of Economists of Serbia, in cooperation with the Academy of Economic Studies and Faculty of Economics in Belgrade.

The conference was attended by the University of Belgrade’s professors, representatives of independent and regulatory authorities, as well as independent economic experts.

Council of the Commission for Protection of Competition enacted a decision establishing the infringement of competition and imposing the measure for protection of competition to companies Vital from Vrbas and Victoriaoil JSC from Šid, on the basis of concluded restrictive agreement that limits and controls production and market of edible sunflower oil.

It is established that the above-mentioned companies as competing parties on the markets of production and sale of edible sunflower oil, have concluded the Contract on business cooperation, wherewith have created a framework for harmonizing behavior of undertakings, resulting in a restrictive nature of the said Contact pursuant to the Law on Protection of Competition.

The measure for protection of competition is imposed in the form of commitment payment of a monetary sum to companies Victoriaoil and Vital, in the amount of RSD 23m and 8.6m, respectively.

Member of the Council of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Mr. Čedomir Radojčić, participated at the Third workshop and coordination meeting of the Multidisciplinary team on the topic: Fraud in public procurement procedures / Financial frauds and public corruptions. Mr. Radojčić held a lecture on the occasion: “Competition policy and public procurements: The role of the Commission for Protection of Competition”.

Multidisciplinary team (MDT) as its objective sets to mutually introduce representatives of various public institutions, as well as governmental organizations and authorities, to educate members on the possibilities and fields of expertise of other organizations, along with bolstering communication and coordination between those organizations – with the ultimate objective of identifying and running more successful investigation and criminal prosecution of frauds in public procurement procedures and other cases of public corruption.


The workshop and operating activities of the MDT are organized in the form of meetings, in cooperation with representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe – Mission to Serbia (OSCE) and US Justice Department at the US Embassy in Belgrade.

Beside representatives of the Commission, meeting was attended by representatives of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Prosecutor’s Office, State Audit Institution, Public Procurement Office, Administration for Fighting Organized Crime of the Ministry of Interior of Serbia, as well as reps of other institutions.

President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Dr. Miloje Obradović, and Mr. Vladimir Koltovič, Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade, have signed the Memorandum on Mutual Understanding and Cooperation in the Competition Policy Area between these two institutions.


Implementation of this agreement opens the possibility for more intensive cooperation in the competition policy area, along with the development of bilateral relations in addition to securing conditions for efficient functioning of product and service markets between institutions in charge of implementation of competition policy in Serbia and Belarus.

The two parties have agreed on their mutual interest to assist one another in implementing antimonopoly, i.e. competition related legislation and in the development of competition policy by exchanging experiences and opinions.
Also, the Memorandum envisages the exchange of staff, organization of seminars, forums, training courses and other similar manifestations, as well as exchanging publications and other documents.

The Commission for Protection of Competition is very active in cooperating with other competition authorities, both from the EU member states and other non-EU countries. The Memorandum on cooperation with Belarus is the 12th agreement that the Commission has signed with competition governing authorities or institutions of other countries.

The Memorandum is signed during the session of the Belarusian-Serbian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, held in Belgrade on April 18-19.

On April 12, 2017, Council of the Commission for Protection of Competition enacted a decision on the implementation of retail market sector inquiry.


According to the European Commission’s reports, the role of retail sector is of key importance for the European economic development, and in this regard individual EU countries (Germany, Great Britain, Finland…) continuously monitor competition related fluctuations in the context of observed sector developments.

The sector inquiry will contribute to the establishment of relations between retail market competing parties at the local, regional and national level. Also, this sector inquiry will encompass the wholesale market. This implies the estimate of market share and relative power of undertakings, analysis of contractual relations between suppliers and trade chains, in addition to analyzing effects of those relations on the market competition.
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The issue of particular importance will be the relation between retailers and their suppliers in terms of establishing differences in the degree of negotiating power between small and large trade chains, as well as between those operating at the national, regional and local level. The second important aspect is the issue of suppliers positioning that can also be perceived via the likelihood and manner of exerting the influence on shelving display size in retail stores, or imposing potential obligation to pay compensations (slotting fee, risk of de-slotting when suppliers refuse to reduce prices or change other important terms and conditions of payment, and ‘pay-to-stay’ fees). The issue of rebates policy will be analyzed in detail, and particularly in regard to setting the types of approved rebates, amounts and criteria for their approval.


Keeping in mind that the development of private-label products is a trend that can be identified on the retail market, influence of product brands on consumer selection will be also analyzed, along with the profitability and negotiating power of trade chains and suppliers positioning.

And last but not less important, results of this sector inquiry will enable implementation of ex-post analysis of substantial concentrations previously executed in this sector.

On the occasion of Competition Day, the Commission for Protection of Competition organized the International Conference “Challenges in the Implementation of Competition Policy on the Path towards the EU”.

The conference consisted of two panels designed for the exchange of experiences on relations between national competition authorities with the European Commission, degree of their functional and financial independence, importance of raising capacities, in addition to forms of cooperation in handling cases with increasingly featured regional and even international character.


Opening speeches are given by Dr. Miloje Obradović, President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Ms. Snežana B. Petrović, President of the Committee on the Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Steffen Hudolin from the EU Delegation and Mr. Bogdan Chiritoiu, President of the Romanian Competition Council.

For the first time in its history, this conference introduced the honorable “guest-host” format, welcoming on the occasion the Competition Council of Romania.

In its introductory address, President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Dr. Miloje Obradović announced the new competition law’s enactment enabling more efficient work of the Commission and facilitating competition policy enforcement in Serbia.


„Practical implementation of the current Law on Protection of Competition demonstrated room for normative improvements. In that sense, the Commission is already active in designing particular concepts toward formulating and regulatory introducing individual institutes as soon as practicable, which have not been sufficiently regulated or in some instances even remained unregulated by the current Law.”

President Obradović said he believes there is a considerable room for enhancement of the Commission’s institutional capacities, particularly in the light of the new EC Directive. „The Commission has exercised due diligence by analyzing the proposal for a new Directive of the European Parliament drafted by the European Commission, envisaging new rules and tools designed to increase efficiency of national competition authorities operating within the European Union.“


President of the Committee on the Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Ms. Snežana B. Petrović said that the Serbian Commission is on a good path to reach the level of respectability of competition authorities in the EU, which were built and system-incorporated for decades. This is also confirmed through positive assessments already given for the second year in a row by the EC in its annual report on Serbia’s progress during the accession into the European Union, and during meetings of the Subcommittee on Internal Market and Competition held in Brussels, said Ms. Petrović.

Representative of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Mr. Steffen Hudolin assessed that Serbia has achieved a good progress in the competition area with the supported provided by the EU and added that Serbian competition regulations are considerably compliant with the EU acquis.
Mr. Bogdan Chiritoiu, President of the Romanian Competition Council presented experiences of this institution in a year marking their 20th anniversary of operations, and announced intensified cooperation with the Serbian Commission for Protection of Competition.

The conference’s panel discussions gathered more than 150 guests, facilitated by Mr. Nicholas Banasevic, Head of Unit in DG Competition of the European Commission, Mr. Mladen Cerovac, President of the Croatian Competition Council, Dr. Dragan Lončar, Professor at the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade, Mr. Gianluca Sepe, Head of Sector – EU legislation, Italian Competition Authority, and Mr. Čedomir Radojčić and Dr. Veljko Milutinović, CPC Council members.


The conference was attended by numerous officials of all public institutions, regulatory authorities and scientific institutes, in addition to representatives from chambers of commerce and industry, law offices and business associations, as well as representatives of all regional competition authorities.

President of the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia, Dr. Miloje Obradović and Dean of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Professor Dr. Sima Avramović, have signed the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Commission for Protection of Competition and Belgrade Faculty of Law.

The Memorandum of Cooperation defines founding of the professional and educational cooperation between these two institutions in the area of competition policy via organizing seminars, hosting lectures of the Commission’s experts, joint thematic workshops, developing student internship program, joint publishing activities from the competition area, etc.

The Memorandum of Cooperation signed with the Belgrade Faculty of Law is a third agreement of this kind the Commission has signed with the university community members.

The signed document shall enable investing joint efforts in promoting and advocating for competition policy and raising knowledge levels in the area of competition law, in addition to achieving more qualitative education of students toward attaining the set objectives.