The goal of the Agreement on Cooperation between the Commission for Protection of Competition and the Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia, signed by CPC President Dr Miloje Obradović and Director General of the Customs Administration Miloš Tomić, is to improve cooperation towards achieving more efficient exercise of legally entrusted competences of the two institutions.

The Agreement stipulates the continuous exchange of information and data between the two institutions, cooperation in improving the skills and knowledge base and coordination of positions on issues of mutual interest.

The Commission for Protection of Competition conducted a sector inquiry into the oil derivatives retail market in the Republic of Serbia in 2017. The subject of the inquiry was to determine the relationships between main competitors in the defined market segments towards making a comparative trend analysis by particular categories and identifying potential market weaknesses.

The integral part of the report consists of derived conclusions that allow for, inter alia, an overall perception of trends both on the oil production and refining market and on the oil derivatives retail market, in addition to the structure and trends in retail pricing of selected oil derivatives.

The Commission has assessed the degree of compliance with recommendations provided in previous reports and reiterated the significance of creating detailed statistical records on oil and oil derivatives and the importance of cooperation with other competent authorities towards creating a legal and business environment which will improve free competition in markets.

Considering the importance of oil sector for the energy industry and overall industrial development, as of March 1, 2019, the Commission will begin to conduct an inquiry into competitive conditions on this market for 2018.

The Commission hereby expresses its gratitude to all undertakings that have regularly submitted the requested data during the inquiry drafting process, and also calls all undertakings and other members of the expert public to send their commentaries to the report, as well as recommendations and suggestions for the follow-up inquiry, to the following email address: office.kzk@kzk.gov.rs, with annotation: The commentary to the sector inquiry into the oil and oil derivatives market, no later than February 28, 2019.

The Commission for Protection of Competition has found that companies „B2M” d.o.o. Beograd, „Trgodunav” d.o.o. Beograd, “Grafo Trade” d.o.o. Beograd, and „Master Clean Express” d.o.o. Subotica, have infringed competition by colluding in a public procurement implemented in 2016 by the Ministry of Defence. In the proceedings ex officio is established that said companies have colluded over the essential bidding components (price and other conditions of trade) relating to the public procurement concerned, resulting in the imposition of measures for protection of competition.

The Commission for Protection of Competition conducted a sector inquiry into the baby equipment wholesale and retail market. The Commission noted the need to analyze competitive conditions on said market considering the lack of prior knowledge of its structure, in addition to the fact that this sector is very often a topic of discussion in the media.
For the inquiry related needs, the Commission identified eight product categories within the broader baby equipment market, among them the products subject to VAT refunds, namely: baby milk, baby diapers, strollers, cribs, car seats, feeding chairs, clothes and footwear (for up to 3-year-olds).

The primary objective of the inquiry was to assess the size and volume of defined markets and identify major undertakings. The goal of the inquiry was also to detect particular tendencies and trends through a comparative analysis of turnover indicators and to draw concrete conclusions on market mechanisms.

The Commission hereby expresses its gratitude to all undertakings that have regularly submitted the requested data during the inquiry drafting process, and also calls all undertakings and other members of the expert public to send their commentaries to the report, to the following email address: office.kzk@kzk.gov.rs, with annotation: The commentary to the baby equipment market inquiry, no later than January 31, 2019.

Considering the significance of the market concerned, against the background of free market access and free price system, and also the existing market structure, the Commission will continue to monitor the behavior of undertakings on the market concerned with due care and analyze circumstances potentially indicating the infringement of the Law on Protection of Competition.

The Commission for Protection of Competition has organized a public debate in Niš, dedicated to examining potential solutions towards the improvement of competition policy and law in the Republic of Serbia.

The public debate is organized as part of the project “Increasing economic growth through support to the promotion of competition policy”, supported by the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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The Commission for Protection of Competition has instituted proceedings against 11 companies providing roadworthiness testing and vehicle classification services in the territory of the City of Čačak. The Commission reasonably assumed that respective undertakings have colluded over the prices of their services, which may represent an infringement of competition in the form of entering into restrictive agreements from Article 10 of the Law.

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

Improvements to the competition law and policy in the Republic of Serbia in the context of the preparation of a new legal framework governing this specific area was the topic of discussion at the meeting between the Commission for Protection of Competition and companies, members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia.

On the occasion, President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Dr Miloje Obradović, together with Čedomir Radojčić, CPC Council member, and Gordana Lukić, Head of the Merger Investigation Division, who are otherwise members of the Working Group for drafting new competition act, has presented to the audience details on the motivation and key directions of development of future legal solutions.

It is established that a new legal framework governing competition policy is necessary against the background of continued harmonization with the EU Acquis, but also for the strengthening of current institutional capacities of the Commission for Protection of Competition and efficiency of enforcement mechanisms in light of securing a level playing field and further enhancement of legal certainty of undertakings. It is underlined that this is the first time that all relevant stakeholders are taking part in the drafting of a new regulation.

The Commission for Protection of Competition has conducted an inquiry into competitive conditions on the cement production and sales market in the territory of the Republic of Serbia for the period 2014-2017. For the inquiry-related purposes, the Gray (Portland) cement market is identified as the relevant product market. The primary objective of this inquiry was to look into the structure and dynamics of competition on the market concerned.

Within the Gray (Portland) cement market, the Commission has specifically analyzed the production, import, export, and wholesale segments.

The inquiry used data provided by the Ministry of Finance-Customs Administration on the cement import and export, publicly available data of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia on the Grey cement production and sales, as well as data provided by undertakings, cement manufacturers and importers, namely: CRH (Srbija) d.o.o. from Popovac, Lafarge beočinska fabrika cementa d.o.o. from Beočin, “TITAN” d.o.o. from Kosjerić, CEMEX SRB DOO from Niš, and NEXE BETON DOO NOVI SAD from Veternik.

The Commission hereby expresses its gratitude to all undertakings that have regularly submitted the requested data during the inquiry drafting process, and also calls all undertakings and other members of the expert public to send their commentaries to the report, to the following email address: office.kzk@kzk.gov.rs, with annotation: The commentary to the cement market inquiry.

Considering the cement industry significance for the development of civil engineering and overall industrial development, as well as conclusions of this inquiry, the Commission will continue to monitor the behavior of this market’s undertakings with due care, and circumstances potentially indicating the infringement of the Law on Protection of Competition.

Pursuant to Article 58 of the Law on Protection of Competition, the Commission for Protection of Competition hereby publishes the Notice of Filing of the Proposal of Commitments, which companies VISA Incorporated, VISA International Service Association and VISA CEMEA Holdings Limited as legal entities representing the VISA payment organization, are voluntarily willing to undertake in order to eliminate possible infringement of competition, with a call inviting all interested parties to submit commentaries, views and opinions in writing with reference to the commitments proposed.

President of the Commission for Protection of Competition Dr Miloje Obradović has received a visit from the EBRD’s new Director for the Western Balkans, Zsuzsanna Hargitai.

Dr Obradović updated Director Hargitai on the Commission’s activities to date, as well as plans directed at advancing the competition policy in our country. During the talks, the Commission President has specifically underlined the benefits for the Commission from the existing cooperation with the EBRD. He has also informed the interlocutor of the status of currently implemented project “Capacity Building for the Serbian Commission for Protection of Competition”, supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The EBRD Director for the Western Balkans has underlined that this international institution has a good cooperation with the Commission, and that the aim is to further improve it and provide a support to reforms in the light of Serbia’s EU accession perspective.

It is concluded that both institutions should place additional efforts in the coming period in order to strengthen competition policy in the Republic of Serbia with a view to advancing our country’s business environment.