The official launching ceremony held at the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia has marked the initiation of the two-year EU-funded Twinning project “Further Development of Protection of Competition in Serbia”, jointly implemented by the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia and the Italian Competition Authority.

Dr Miloje Obradović, President of the Commission for Protection of Competition spoke on the importance of this project for the development of competition policy in the Republic of Serbia, in addition to Gabriella Muscolo, President of the Italian competition authority, Vesna Kovač, State Secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of the Republic of Serbia, H.E. Carlo Lo Cascio, Ambassador of the Republic of Italy to Serbia, Mateja Norčič Štamcar, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Marko Jovanović, Assistant Minister of Finance for Contracting and Financing of EU Funded Programs, Marko Obradović, CPC Council member, and Alessandra Tonazzi, Director of International and European Affairs at the Italian Competition Authority.
The principal objective of this project is to provide input to the further alignment of national competition legislation with the EU acquis, its efficient enforcement and raising awareness on the competition law and policy among all relevant stakeholders in the Republic of Serbia.

The Commission for Protection of Competition is recognized as one of the parts of the Serbian administration whose work is most harmonized with the acquis communautaire and which improves its work every year, causing positive effects on the improvement of the business environment in the Republic of Serbia.

Noting that the Commission is the end-user, but not the sole project beneficiary, it is expected that the project implementation will secure considerable progress in ensuring the understanding, observance and implementation of competition rules by the courts, regulatory bodies, undertakings and their respective associations. This takes on particular significance in the context of raising capacities of the Serbian economy by strengthening market competition, which represents an important factor in the EU accession process.

This Twinning project that has been awarded to the Republic of Serbia is an important indication that the EU highly values activities implemented by the Commission for Protection of Competition in the previous years. This progress is also recognized in the European Commission’s Annual Report on Serbia 2018.

The project “Further Development of Protection of Competition in Serbia” is a part of the Twinning initiative launched by the European Commission to assist candidate countries in their efforts to strengthen their administrative and judicial capacity for the implementation of the EU acquis. The project budget is about one million euro and will be implemented over 24 months.

Representative of the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission, Azra Iković, visited the Commission for Protection of Competition.

Speaking to Dr Miloje Obradović, President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Ms. Iković was introduced to the work of the Commission directed towards improving the business environment in the Republic of Serbia, and in particular with efforts placed with regard to negotiations within Chapter 8: Competition policy.

Dr Obradović also updated the guest with the outputs of the activities implemented by the Commission since the last meeting, particularly those regarding the drafting process of the new Law on Protection of Competition and further harmonization of the competition policy framework with EU acquis and commitments under Article 73 of the Stabilization and Association Agreement.

Also, the parties touched upon the start of activities on a twinning program aimed at advancing competition policy in Serbia, to be implemented in cooperation with the Italian competition authority as a twinning partner.

During the meeting, it was pointed out that the competition policy in Serbia, and especially the work of the Commission for the Protection of Competition, was highly evaluated by the European Commission.

Namely, the Commission for the Protection of Competition has been recognized as one of the parts of the Serbian administration whose work is most harmonized with the acquis communautaire, which improves its work every year, which positively influences the improvement of the economic environment in the Republic of Serbia.

The Commission for Protection of Competition held a public debate at the premises of CCI in Belgrade, dedicated to discussing potential solutions with a view to advancing competition policy and law in the Republic of Serbia.

The public debate is organized under the project “Increasing economic growth through support to the promotion of competition policy”, supported by the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As part of the support, the Commission’s efforts during recent months have also been directed at organizing similar events in Kragujevac, Niš and Novi Sad.

In addition to Dr Miloje Obradović, President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, the keynote speakers and panelists at this highly attended event were Jovan Stojić, Chairman of the Working group for drafting new competition act and Assistant Minister of Trade, Gordana Tiodorović, member of the Working group for drafting new competition act delegated by CCI, Dr Milan Kostić and Dr Sandra Fišer-Šobot, Professors at the Faculty of Economics, University of Kragujevac, and Faculty of Law, University of Novi Sad, respectively, Miloš Andrović, as well as Dušan Protić (panel moderator) from the European Policy Center. Representatives of the Commission for Protection of Competition have made a valuable contribution to the overall quality of discussions as well, taking part as the Working group members tasked to draft a new regulatory framework for competition policy.
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President of the Commission for Protection of Competition Dr Miloje Obradović has received a visit from H.E. Hyoung Chan Choe, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Republic of Serbia, and presented activities implemented by the Commission for Protection of Competition taken towards ensuring a level playing field for all undertakings operating on the Serbian market.

Dr Obradović welcomed H.E. Hyoung Chan Choe and expressed satisfaction with the previous volume of cooperation achieved with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, in addition to the communication opened with the Korea Fair Trade Commission – KFTC, established as a result of assistance provided by the Korean Embassy.

The intensive cooperation between competition authorities of the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Korea is to be continued with a visit from Mr. Kim Sang-jo, KFTC Chairperson, to the Serbian Commission and co-organization of the second joint seminar in March 2019.
The Korean Ambassador thanked for the reception and pointed out that one of the most important roles of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Belgrade is to facilitate the position of current and attract new Korean investments in Serbia.

Also, H.E. Hyoung Chan Choe voiced his satisfaction over the positive progress achieved in the implementation of a professional training course designed for employees of the Commission for Protection of Competition as part of the technical assistance program, implemented in the Korea Fair Trade Commission in November 2018.

It is mutually agreed that initiatives which have taken place so far have resulted in more intensive cooperation and exchange of experiences between the two authorities, built in order to advance the business environment in Serbia.

President of the Commission for Protection of Competition Dr Miloje Obradović has received a visit from H.E. Arne Sannes Bjørnstad, Norwegian Ambassador to Serbia.

On the occasion of the meeting with Ambassador Bjørnstad, the Commission for Protection of Competition presented its current activities and plans. Particular attention was placed on improvements in the work of the Commission owing to the donation of the Norwegian Embassy for the implementation of the project “Improvement of the business environment in Serbia”.

The CPC President thanked H.E. Bjørnstad for the support provided towards improving the environment for more efficient implementation of competition policy. He pointed out that under this project, the Commission was able to secure the cutting-edge forensic equipment used in dawn raids. Owing to this project, the Commission also hired top experts and with their participation and efforts made by CPC representatives, was able to organize several public debates throughout Serbia dedicated to competition policy improvements. Furthermore, the project also envisages activities to increase visibility of the Commission on social media platforms.

The CPC President indicated his wish to expand cooperation both with the Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade and the highly successful Norwegian competition authority. Ambassador Bjørnstad accepted the invitation to be one of the participants at the forthcoming Competition Day conference, organized by the Commission in Belgrade, scheduled for April 12, 2019.