President of the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia, Dr. Miloje Obradović, and Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Finances and Administration – FEFA, Prof. Dr. Nebojša Savić, have signed the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Commission for Protection of Competition and FEFA.

The Memorandum of Cooperation defines the establishment of technical and educational cooperation between the two institutions in the area of competition policy through the organization of seminars, guest lectures of experts from the Commission, joint thematic workshops, development of student internship programs and an elective course for Master’s level students, joint publishing activities focusing on competition policy topics, cooperation with the FEFA Institute in the preparation of economic analyses, etc.

The signed document will enable the parties to implement common activities directed at promoting competition policy and raising the level of knowledge in the area of competition law, in addition to improved education of students towards achieving the set goals.

The Memorandum of Cooperation with FEFA is the fifth such agreement of the Commission signed with the representatives of academia.

The Commission for Protection of Competition has instituted an ex officio proceedings for investigation of infringement of competition, against Public Utility Company Gradska Toplana Niš, in order to establish the existence of infringement of competition, namely, the abuse of dominance from Article 16 of the Law on Protection of Competition.

The State Audit Institution has previously established that the price of thermal energy supply services has been set in a manner which deviates from the prescribed methodology, resulting in an increased amount of the service cost relative to the level that would have resulted from the use of prescribed methodology for the calculation of thermal energy supply prices for end-users. The State Audit Institution has also found that connection costs to the district heating network are calculated in a manner not provided for by the relevant legal framework. The Commission reasonably assumed that such invoicing, in a manner as established by the State Audit Institution, could depart from the “cost principle”, which may represent an anticompetitive action from Article 16(2/1) of the Law on Protection of Competition. The Commission will investigate and establish the existence of a potential infringement of competition in full and complete compliance with Article 41 of the Law.

All persons in possession of data, documents or other relevant information which could contribute to the accurate fact-finding in this proceedings are called upon to submit said to the Commission for Protection of Competition to the address 25 Savska St., Belgrade.

President of the Commission, Dr. Miloje Obradović, spoke at the meeting of the Subcommittee for Internal Market and Competition, held in Belgrade.

Dr. Obradović introduced EC representatives to all activities concerning the implementation of the Law on Protection of Competition and the degree of compliance of national competition regulations with EU acquis, which fall under the commitments set out in Article 73 of the Stabilization and Association Agreement. He also reminded the audience that the Commission is currently drafting a new competition act, which should contribute to further enhanced implementation of competition policy, in addition to its full compliance with other regulations of the Republic of Serbia, foremost with the Law on General Administrative Procedure.

The Commission President also presented data on results of competition policy implementation during the previous period, noting that the executive authorities in a growing number of cases accept the opinions issued by the Commission for Protection of Competition, proving crucial in the context of ensuring a level playing field for all undertakings.

In his address, the Commission President underlined that institution which he heads, in full and complete compliance with the possibilities and competences, strives to contribute to creating projects which would bring the subject of competition policy closer to judges towards achieving professional specialization in competition cases, which would also have an impact on the increasingly efficient implementation of the Law on Protection of Competition. In that context, President Obradović underlined, as part of the EU Twinning project where the Commission for Protection of Competition is a project beneficiary, a series of workshops will soon be held where representatives of the judicial branch will have an opportunity to acquire qualitative know-hows necessary for enhanced implementation of competition policy in the Republic of Serbia.

“The Commission continues to work intensely on raising the level of awareness on the importance of competition policy in Serbia, while also implements an open-door policy towards all interested parties when drafting regulations, all directed at ensuring the Commission’s full operational transparency”, President of the Commission, Dr. Miloje Obradović, said to his Brussels counterpart.

During the meeting of the Subcommittee, which is regularly held as part of Serbia’s EU accession process, is said that our country is following the dynamics of competition policy development in the EU, and endeavors to align, to the extent possible, related national standards against EU standards. That has also been reconfirmed by the EC assessment given in its recently published 2017 Progress Report, where is underlined that competition policy implementation capacity has increased, both in the number of antitrust cases and the relative size and significance of companies under investigation, as well as that the Commission constantly improves its work, which positively affects the enabling environment for business development in the Republic of Serbia.

President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Dr. Miloje Obradović, received a visit from Mr. Hiroshi Yamada, Senior Official at the Japan Fair Trade Commission – JFTC.

Dr. Obradović introduced Mr. Yamada to activities and plans of the Commission for Protection of Competition and emphasized the importance of the support provided to the Commission by Japan, as a country, Embassy of Japan in Belgrade, as well as by the Japan Fair Trade Commission. In that regard, he underlined the need to further deepen cooperation, both under the technical assistance programs and exchange program opportunities for competition policy experts.

The Japan Fair Trade Commission representative presented plans of this authority for expansion of cooperation with Serbian colleagues. The JFTC is very interested in supporting Serbia towards further compliance of national legislative framework against EU acquis. Also, Mr. Yamada presented a readiness of this institution to provide technical assistance to the Commission for Protection of Competition, and also presented an invitation to the Commission’s representatives to attend a conference within the ICN Merger Workshop, to be held in November this year in Tokyo.

The Japan Fair Trade Commission – JFTC, marked 70 years of history as an enforcement agency last year, and also celebrated the 70th anniversary of the implementation of the Antimonopoly Act in Japan.

The meeting was also attended by First Secretary of the Embassy of Japan in Belgrade, Ms. Atsuko Shiotani, member of the Council of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Dr. Veljko Milutinović, and Senior Advisor at the Division for Competition Advocacy and International Affairs, Ms. Nina Vasić.

On June 18, 2018, the Commission for Protection of Competition enacted a decision in the repeated proceedings, complying with the judgment of the Administrative Court. The said judgment annulled the previous decision of the Commission on the establishment of competition infringement by company EPS Distribucija and referred back the case to the Commission for assessment.

As in the case of earlier decision-making process, the Commission found on this occasion as well that company EPS Distribucija holds a dominant position which has been abused.

The Commission for Protection of Competition approved the concentration of undertakings created by acquisition of control on the part of company VINCI Airports Serbia d.o.o. over business operations of company AD AERODROM NIKOLA TESLA, relating to airport management operations at Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade.

The subject of target business operations relates to concession assets, as defined in the Concession agreement for financing, development through construction and reconstruction, maintenance and management of the infrastructure of AD Aerodrom Nikola Tesla Beograd and carrying out airport operator activities at AD Aerodrom Nikola Tesla in Belgrade. VINCI Airports Serbia d.o.o. operates within the VINCI Group, who have not hitherto carried out airport operator activities nor conducted business operations on the airport services market in Serbia.

The decision will be published on the Commission’s website when related conditions are met, that is, on the expiry of the period for bringing an appeal against the conclusion on data protection.

In cooperation with the Embassy of Japan, JFTC – Japan Free Trade Commission and JICA – Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Commission for Protection of Competition organized training sessions on the current and future challenges of Japan in the fight against cartels and bid rigging in public procurements.

These training sessions were undertaken with the prospect of gaining new knowledge and understanding by not only employees of the Commission for Protection of Competition but also representatives of other institutions, as well as stakeholders on the best global practices in competition policy enforcement.

The event was opened by President of the Commission for Protection of Competition Dr. Miloje Obradović and H.E. Junichi Maruyama, Ambassador of Japan to Serbia.

The Commission for Protection of Competition is publishing the Proposal of commitments which the party to the proceedings, company Sirmiumbus from Sremska Mitrovica, is voluntarily willing to undertake in order to eliminate possible infringements of competition, containing terms and conditions for execution of the proposed commitments.

Also, the Commission calls upon all interested parties to submit written remarks, positions and opinions on the proposed commitments, no later than 20 days from the date of publication of the notice.

By way of reminder, the Commission for Protection of Competition had instituted ex officio proceedings against company Sirmiumbus d.o.o. Sremska Mitrovica on September 22, 2017, in order to investigate the infringement of competition from Article 16 of the Law on Protection of Competition (abuse of dominance).

On March 14, 2018, company Sirmiumbus has submitted a submission entitled “Request for suspension of proceedings”, amended by a submission of April 19, 2018, headed “Amendment to the request for suspension of proceedings”. The submissions mentioned also contain the proposal of commitments which company Sirmiumbus is voluntarily willing to undertake in order to eliminate possible infringements of competition, containing terms and conditions for taking the measure.

The Commission has established that the proposal of commitments concerned is admissible, timely and submitted by a duly authorized person.

Pursuant to Article 58(1) of the Law, the Commission may enact a conclusion on suspension of investigation of competition infringement, imposing the measure referred to in Article 59 of the Law, if the party, based on the content of the conclusion on instituting proceedings, that is, facts established in the proceedings, submits a proposal of commitments that is voluntarily willing to undertake in order to eliminate possible infringements of competition, containing terms and conditions for taking the measure. Article 58(2) stipulates a deadline by which the party to the proceedings may place such proposal.

Representatives of the Commission for Protection of Competition have participated as guests at the Working group session of the National Convention on the EU which monitors the negotiations on Chapter 8 – Competition policy, held in Niš. This occasion also served as an opportunity to present results to the expert public of Niš of the Phase I of the Sector inquiry into the food, beverages and tobacco retail market in the Republic of Serbia.

Prof. Dr. Marija Radosavljević, Vice-Dean for Scientific Research, has addressed the audience in the opening of the session, followed by keynote addresses given by Marko Obradović, Council member of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Dr. Boban Stojanović, Full Professor at the Faculty of Economics in Niš, and Ivan Đekić, member of the Working group of the National Convention on the European Union and of the Society of Economists of Niš.

The sector inquiry into the retail market prepared by the Commission was presented by Dr. Siniša Milošević, Head of the Economic Analyses Division, and Aleksandra Ravić, Senior Advisor in this sector.

Following the presentation of the analysis, CPC representatives have opened a discussion on the role and importance of presented results and prospects for the retail sector development.

The Commission for Protection of Competition has instituted a proceedings against seven undertakings alleging that competition from Article 10 of the Law on Protection of Competition has been infringed by bid rigging in public procurements.

Proceedings ex officio is instituted against the following undertakings: Original, preduzeće za spoljnu i unutrašnju trgovinu i usluge doo Beograd (Novi Beograd), Mikops doo Export-Import za proizvodnju, trgovinu i usluge Niš, Preduzeće za usluge i trgovinu Birolinija, društvo sa ograničenom odgovornošću Beograd, Biro print sistemi doo Beograd, Preduzeće za trgovinu i usluge Dikti Line doo, Beograd, Društvo za spoljnu i unutrašnju trgovinu Birodeveloping doo Niš, Društvo za proizvodnju, promet i usluga Birotehnika, Export-Import doo, Jagodina.

By implementing legal powers, officials of the Commission for Protection of Competition have conducted a dawn raid on five locations. Use of dawn raids, as an exceptionally efficient instrument for detecting acts or actions of undertakings that as their purpose or effect have or may have a significant restriction, distortion or prevention of competition, in this instance as well served to collect documentation considered valuable for the further conduct of the Commission in this case.