The Commission for Protection of Competition has established that companies Original doo Beograd, Mikops doo Niš, Birolinija doo Beograd, Biro Print Sistemi doo Beograd, Dikti Line doo, Birodeveloping doo Niš, Birotehnika doo, Jagodina, and Konica Minolta Poslovna Rešenja SE doo Beograd have coordinated their participation in public and other procurement procedures. In such manner, it is found that said companies have infringed competition law by entering into a prohibited restrictive agreement that directly or indirectly sets the selling prices or other conditions of trade, which has as its object the restriction and prevention of competition (Article 10(2/1) of the Law on Protection of Competition).

The Commission detected this collusion between competitors with the assistance from one of the participants to the prohibited agreement, providing evidence to the Commission of the concluded agreement, thus securing immunity from fines under the Leniency policy implemented by the Commission.

Given that collusions of this kind are hard to detect, the Commission uses this opportunity to reiterate the invitation to all the parties to such agreements to approach and provide evidence to the Commission and in that manner assist in detecting such agreements, and in return secure the immunity from fines for their anticompetitive behaviors, as defined in the provisions of Article 69 of the Law on Protection of Competition.

The Commission for Protection of Competition and the Italian Competition Authority, Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato, organized a five-day seminar “Competition and Public Procurements” as partners in implementing the EU-funded Twinning project “Further Development of Protection of Competition in Serbia”.

At the event held at the Palace of Serbia marking the formal opening of the seminar, keynote addresses were given by Aleksandra Tomić, Chair of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Miloje Obradović, President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Dejan Damnjanović, Deputy Director of the Anticorruption Agency, and Stefan Otašević from the Public Procurement Office.

Chair of the Assembly’s Committee Aleksandra Tomić said that independent institutions, judiciary, and the public must have control over public procurements. “In each country, the state taken individually is the largest purchaser and the biggest economic player, while the public procurements are one of the most important budget expenditure items, and that is why it’s imperative to monitor how the taxpayers’ money is spent”, underlined Chair Tomić, pointing out that public tenders may be suitable for inappropriate spending of public funds by bid-rigging in every country. So it’s important, she added, that all stakeholders participate in adopting legislation regulating the field in order to avoid any “legal loopholes”.

President of the Commission for Protection of Competition Miloje Obradović said that according to the Law on Protection of Competition, rigged or fictitious bids in public procurements are among the most serious violations of competition – the so-called cartel agreements.

“The Commission’s competence relating to public procurement procedures exists only when bidders enter into a prohibited agreement on bid submission or suppression schemes in response to a call for tenders published by the ordering party”, said Obradović and reminded the audience that the dawn raid system and leniency program are launched in Serbia, proving to be the most efficient tools in detecting cartels. As an added value, the Commission President mentioned the need to improve the modalities of association and cooperation between national institutions in Serbia in charge of public procurements and competition.

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The Commission for Protection of Competition has instituted proceedings ex officio against company Fortenova Grupa d.d. Zagreb in order to investigate a merger implemented without antitrust clearance. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Fortenova Grupa d.d. Zagreb has acquired control over companies Frikom d.o.o. Beograd, Dijamant a.d. Zrenjanin, Mivela Mg, PIK Vrbovec d.o.o. Beograd, Kikindski mlin and other companies established in the Republic of Serbia, operating within the Agrokor group.

In the proceedings concerned, the Commission will investigate whether the provisions of the Law on Protection of Competition are contravened in the specific circumstances of this case, who exercises the control over company Fortenova Grupa, as well as the permissibility of this concentration within the meaning of Article 19 of the Law. The Commission will also establish material facts, evidence and other elements that will represent the basis for its decision making in terms of potential antitrust measures to be specified, that is, deconcentration measures.

The Law stipulates that concentrations of undertakings are permitted, unless they significantly restrict, distort, or prevent competition in the market of the Republic of Serbia or its part, and especially if that restriction, distortion, or prevention is the result of creating or strengthening of dominance.

The conclusion which initiated the proceedings concerned invites all persons in possession of information, documents or other relevant facts that could contribute to the accurate fact-finding in this proceeding to forthwith submit said evidence to the Commission for Protection of Competition to the address 25/IV Savska St., Belgrade.

The Commission for Protection of Competition has uploaded a new video clip to its YouTube channel entitled “Our contribution to the protection of competition over the last five years, 2014-2019”.

The aim of the Commission is to present its five-year record and achievements to all undertakings, academia and citizens, whose well-being is the objective of its overall activities focused on the protection of competition, and in that manner to enhance the communication with all stakeholders and improve its operational transparency.

The video clip is produced under the project “Increasing economic growth through support to the promotion of competition policy”, implemented by CPC in collaboration with the Kingdom of Norway and the Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade.

Member of the Council of the Commission for Protection of Competition Čedomir Radojčić participated as one of the speakers at the BRICS Competition Conference, organized in Moscow, Russia, from Sept 16-20, 2019, held on a regular basis as a major international forum uniting the BRICS competition authorities.

This year’s Conference held under the leitmotif “10 years of successful cooperation between the BRICS competition authorities: results and prospects” was devoted specifically to competition issues in the digital economy, as well as narrower issues of public procurement system developments.

Acting as CPC representative, Čedomir Radojčić took part in the panel discussion on “State participation in the economy” together with colleagues from a number of other competition authorities. During the session, Radojčić underlined that the market economy and state interventionism are not alternatives to each other but, on the contrary, mutually codependent.

Proper functioning of markets depends on the proper functioning of the state. Inefficient markets cannot contribute to the proper functioning of the state and vice-versa. To that effect, there are no alternatives, said Radojčić.
The key findings of the 2019 BRICS Competition Conference are that one of the biggest challenges today is the harmonization of competition policy and law with an increasingly widespread impact of digitalization of the economy, in addition to the fight against anti-competitive behaviors of undertakings in the era of globalization, and the importance of strengthening of international cooperation in this area.

The Conference was attended by senior representatives from more than 50 competition authorities from around the world, representatives of international institutions and academia.

The representative of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Vuk Leković, Advisor at the Restrictive Practices Division, as a beneficiary of the training program supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), attended a professional training course in Japan.

The seminar was aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of competition law and policy enforcement and exchanging experiences to improve the use of the acquired knowledge so as to help ongoing efforts to secure even more efficient protection of competition in the markets of countries participating in the program. The training program included an overview of the both antitrust theory and practice as a laying foundation for promoting competition.

This year, representatives of competition authorities from 19 countries around the world have attended the training program. The Japan International Cooperation Agency organizes such kind of seminars since 1994.
The participation of the CPC representative at the JICA/JFTC training course in Tokyo represents the continuation of a successful cooperation established between the Commission and the Japan Fair Trade Commission, also confirmed by the last year’s successfully co-organized a two-day seminar held in Belgrade.

On July 25, 2019, the Council of the Commission for Protection of Competition has enacted the Instructions on the contents of initiatives to investigate infringements of competition referred to in Article 10 of the Law on Protection of Competition – restrictive agreements.

With the Instructions that shed light upon the way in which suspicions about alleged infringements of competition can be reported, the Commission has drafted a model form necessary for simplified submission of initiatives.

The Commission notes that all those in possession of information on the existence of infringements of competition occurring in some of the markets in the Republic of Serbia may also use a special-purpose email address inicijativa@kzk.gov.rs or phone number 011 38 11 958 in order to receive all necessary information on the details regarding the possibility and manner in which antitrust initiatives can be submitted.

President of the Commission for Protection of Competition Dr. Miloje Obradović and Vice-Minister of the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China Ms. Gan Lin, have signed the Memorandum of Cooperation between the two institutions in Belgrade, Serbia.

The signing of this document creates space for putting in place cooperation between the two authorities and improving antitrust policy in the Republic of Serbia, in addition to creating even more favorable conditions for the continued development of bilateral relations between the two countries.

The objective of the Memorandum is the implementation and effective competition law enforcement given its importance for efficient business performance, well-being of consumers, as well as trade relations between China and Serbia.

It is envisaged that the cooperation between the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China and the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia will take place through the technical cooperation by means of training programs, workshops and research-related coordination, organization of meetings between Chinese and Serbian high officials working in the competition policy field, drafting specialized analyses and exchanging experiences concerning the implementation of competition law regimes.

Members of the CPC Council and representatives of the Commission’s Administrative and Professional Service have attended the signing ceremony, in addition to high-level representatives of the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China.

This Memorandum of Cooperation is the fourteenth document of that kind that the Commission has signed with competition authorities from around the world.

The fact that everyone in the Republic of Serbia can pursue criminal charges against the Commission for Protection of Competition and its officials cannot be disputed. However, in this particular case, when the Citizens’ Association “Car go” has filed an antitrust complaint before the Commission, immediately followed by a criminal action brought against CPC President Miloje Obradović as head of this institution, is perceived as an inappropriate form of pressure on the work of the Commission as an independent state authority.

It is symptomatic that “Car go” has opted to pursue criminal charges on the very day when the Commission for Protection of Competition has issued a notice on the absence of grounds for acting on their antitrust complaint.

We would hereby like to inform the public that the Commission for Protection of Competition will not, nor has it ever in the past, reach its decisions based on pressure of any kind, but solely pursuant to the provisions of the Law on Protection of Competition, for which it was given a mandate by the National Assembly of Serbia.

The Commission for Protection of Competition believes that legal requirements for the opening of antitrust proceedings have not been met, nor that the case merits further investigation by the Commission based on an antitrust initiative submitted by Car Go Technologies d.o.o. Beograd against the Taxi Association of Serbia “Satus”, Trade Association of Taxi Entrepreneurs of Belgrade, and the Contractual Taxi Chamber of Commerce of Serbia.

The Commission has notified the party on the matter in the Notice on the outcome of the initiative (attached below).