The Commission for Protection of Competition in cooperation with the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (SCC) presented to market participants new Guidelines for the development of business compliance programs with regulations on competition protection.

The presentation was intended for all market participants in order to introduce them to the rules in the field of competition protection and guidelines for the development of the Business Compliance Program with the regulations on competition protection published by the Commission in December last year.

The presentation in Belgrade was attended by more than 70 representatives of market participants and the expert public. This is the first in a series of workshops that the Commission will organize in cooperation with the SCC on this topic, given that it is important to further build the knowledge of market participants, especially small and medium enterprises on competition policy.

The current practice of the Commission for Protection of Competition shows that violations of competition often occur due to lack or insufficient knowledge of market participants. On such basis, the need to raise the level of awareness of market participants about the need and ways to comply with regulations in the field of competition was recognized.

In order to assist market participants in the process of adopting a compliance compliance program, the Commission briefly describes and clarifies these “steps” in these workshops and guidelines in the adoption of such programs as well as competition rules.

Representatives of the Commission for Protection of Competition took part in a conference organized by the Association of Serbian Banks, where they held a lecture on “Compliance of business with regulations on protection of competition”.

The topics of the lecture were the legal framework, the goal of competition rules, the institutional framework and competencies of the Commission for Protection of Competition, and then the specific risks related to protection that need to be identified and avoided in the course of business compliance, business compliance needs and program guidelines compliance of operations with the regulations on protection of competition adopted by the Commission at the end of 2021.

Counseling “Compliance functions in banks” was organized as the 17th annual conference in Vrnjačka Banja and was attended by representatives of commercial banks, the Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, the Association for Business Compliance and others.

The Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia has adopted a new Instruction for detecting bid rigging in the public procurement procedure, in the light of the new legal solutions (Law on Public Procurement, amendments to the Criminal Code) that were adopted after the 2011 Instruction.

The Commission for Protection of Competition recognized the need to emphasize and raise the level of awareness among market participants about the need and ways of business compliance with current regulations and regulations in the field of competition protection.

The aim of issuing the Instruction is to prevent and foil the implementation of “rigged or falsified offers” (bid rigging), as the most severe forms of cartels. The consequence of such agreements between competitors – bidders regarding the offered price is the elimination of competition between them, which is why the contracting authority would pay more for the subject of procurement than it would pay under the conditions of competition.

The OECD Guidelines for Combating Bi Rigging in Public Procurement and the Notice of the European Commission in accordance with the needs of cooperation between the Commission and the Public Procurement Office were used in the preparation.

Representatives of the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia participated on the 21st ICN Annual Conference and 21st International Conference on Competition in Berlin, hosted by the German competition authority (Bundeskartellamt).

The Bundeskartellamt is bringing together two of the most renowned international events dealing with competition policy and competition law enforcement, the International Conference on Competition (ICC) and the Annual Conference of the International Competition Network (ICN). In 1982 the International Conference on Competition was launched by the Bundeskartellamt in Berlin, where the Bundeskartellamt was based at the time, and has since then been held every two years. This year the Bundeskartellamt was also hosted the annual conference of the ICN, the International Competition Network founded in 2001, which today counts 140 member agencies from 130 jurisdictions.

The main topics were the issue of relationship between competition law and policy with other areas, primarily consumer protection and access and use of confidential data, regulatory and other measures necessary to establish and strengthen competition on digital platform markets, as well as other current issues from the areas of anti-trust, concentration assessment, competition protection advocacy, etc.

Approximately 450 participants from over 80 countries attended the conferences, highest representatives of competition authorities, judges, university professors, anti-trust lawyers, representatives of German ministries and other governmental bodies, international companies, etc.

The Commission for Protection of Competition initiated an ex officio procedure of investigation of infringement of competition against the company Polet-keramika Novi Bečej, in order to examine the existence of restrictive agreements referred to in Article 10 of the Law on Protection of Competition, which restricts competition on the market of wholesale ceramic tiles in the Republic of Serbia, and performed an unannounced investigation.

The commission conducted an analysis of the state of competition in the distribution channels of ceramic tiles and sanitary ware, within which it also obtained sales contracts that the manufacturer Polet-keramika Novi Bečej concluded with buyers for further sale. The analysis of contracts, their addendums and annexes revealed provisions that point to the existence of a practice known as resale pricing by the manufacturer/seller, which restricts the buyer to make independent business decisions related to pricing policy, which is a restrictive agreement, constituting an infringement of competition under Article 10 of the Law.

In the investigation procedure, the commission shall undertake all necessary evidentiary actions in order to correctly determine the factual situation, examine the existence of a competition infringement, and make a final decision upon finalization of the procedure.

All persons having data, documents or other relevant information that can contribute to establishing the factual situation in this procedure are hereby invited to submit them at the address of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Savska 25 / IV, Belgrade.

Representatives of the Commission for Protection of Competition held a lecture at a webinar entitled “Concentration of market participants and effect on the process of realization of assets in bankruptcy proceedings” organized by the Bankruptcy Supervision Agency, with the support of the World Bank.

The aim of this webinar is to introduce the participants to the law on competition governing the area of concentration control, which can occur in bankruptcy proceedings.

111 bankruptcy administrators and judges of commercial courts from all over Serbia took part in the webinar.

The Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia and the Hellenic Competition Commission have signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Antitrust Cooperation.

The implementation of the Memorandum will allow for the improvement of cooperation between the two authorities through the exchange of experiences and comparative practices in the field of antitrust aimed at achieving economic progress and the well-being of society, in particular consumer welfare.

The Memorandum aims to strengthen cooperation in the field of competition law and policy and create favorable conditions for the development of bilateral relations, which is particularly important in the context of changes occurring in markets that competition authorities face.

The previous practice of the Commission for Protection of Competition confirmed that competition infringements are often a result of a lack of understanding or knowledge of undertakings. Therefore, the Commission recognized the need to increase the level of awareness of undertakings and manners in which businesses can achieve competition law compliance.

To assist undertakings in the process of adopting competition compliance programs, the Commission in these guidelines gives a brief description and clarifies individual “steps” towards adopting such programs.

The objective of these guidelines is to give orientations to undertakings, both large companies and SMEs, on drafting internal acts and rulebooks that would allow them to ensure that their businesses can achieve compliance with competition law, as well as to call attention to the need for compliance in business with this area of law across a wide range of undertakings.

The Commission for Protection of Competition has instituted antitrust proceedings ex officio against affiliated companies KLETT IZDAVAČKA KUĆA, PRIVREDNO DRUŠTVO ZA IZDAVAČKU DELATNOST NOVI LOGOS, and IZDAVAČKA KUĆA FRESKA – Klett Group, to establish the existence of abuse of dominance, within the meaning of Article 16 of the Law on Protection of Competition, which restricts competition on the market for primary school books in the Republic of Serbia, and carried out dawn raids at their business premises.

Based on the conducted analysis of competitive conditions on the market for primary school books in the Republic of Serbia, including other obtained information and documentation, the Commission found reasonable grounds to believe that Klett Group, as a group with significant market share, since 2014 has conducted business strategies described in the Conclusion instituting proceedings, which derogate from the regular competitive conditions on the market. In particular, this implies mainly preventing or hindering new competitors from entering the market, pricing and rebate policy, and deals for schools in procedures for selecting textbooks.

The Commission, therefore, found reasonable grounds to believe that said companies since 2014, including but not limited to, have directly or indirectly imposed unfair purchase or selling prices or other unfair conditions of trade, restricted market and refused cooperation, which as a consequence has or may have significant restriction, distortion or prevention of competition on the market for primary school books in the Republic of Serbia, which represents an abuse of dominance (Article 16 of the Law).

All persons in possession of data, documents or other relevant information that could contribute to the accurate fact-finding in this proceedings are invited to notify the Commission for Protection of Competition accordingly, by presenting said evidence at the address: 25 Savska St., 4th Floor, Belgrade.

At the Second Sitting of the Second Regular Session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in 2021, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Annual Activity Report of the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) 2020.

CPC President Nebojša Perić presented to the National Assembly the results of operations in 2020, achieved during the first year of the CPC Council’s new term.

The summary of key activities of the Commission in 2020 provides an overview of antitrust investigations; exemptions of restrictive agreements from prohibition; merger control proceedings; results of sector and inquiries into competitive conditions on individual markets; issued opinions; CPC activities in the process of accession to the European Union under Chapter 8; competition advocacy activities and measures; accomplished national and international cooperation, including CPC activities to implement international projects.

During 2020, the Commission worked on 22 cases, seven of which were closed. Also, it has instituted eight new proceedings, seven of which to establish the existence of restrictive agreements and one that concerned the abuse of dominance. In five instituted proceedings, the Commission conducted 18 dawn raids in total, which is the highest number since the establishment of the Commission carried out during a reporting period. By all parameters (instituted and closed proceedings, dawn raids), the year 2020 was the most productive period for antitrust investigations.

Also, 134 merger notifications were filed in 2020, while the Commission completed four sector inquiries and launched two, which will be completed by the end of 2021.

According to the Activity Report, despite difficulties caused by the outbreak of the worldwide pandemic COVID-19, the Commission closed the year of 2020 with improved measurable operational indicators in almost all areas of protection of competition on the market of the Republic of Serbia.