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).

President of the Commission for Protection of Competition Dr Miloje Obradović took part, together with his colleague Marija Antić, in the 18th Session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development – UNCTAD, held in Geneva.

During the IGE session, the document titled “Guiding Policies and Procedures under the UN Set on Competition” was adopted, drafted to reflect an initiative presented by the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation – FAS, in cooperation with competition authorities of Japan, USA, Hungary, Germany, Croatia, Italy, and Austria. The Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia also took an active role in the previous period, working together with colleagues from other competition authorities in preparing the final version of this document, which should contribute to the increased efficiency of competition authorities in finding the best common solutions in curbing anticompetitive behaviors.

During the session, Dr Obradović had a series of bilateral discussions with the heads of various global competition authorities, aimed at exchanging experiences towards the establishment of a mechanism for more qualitative work in securing a level playing field for all undertakings. The joint position reaffirmed the view that one of the main challenges in harmonizing competition policy and law relates to the increasingly more digitally mediated economy, as well as that the modern fight against anticompetitive conduct of undertakings is increasingly less confined within national boundaries, thus making the reinforced international cooperation in this area imperative and essential.

The heads and senior officials from more than 50 competition authorities from around the world have participated in the 18th Session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy, in addition to representatives of international institutions and academia, international organizations, etc.

Dr Miloje Obradović, President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, and Bojana Tošić, Acting Director of the Public Policy Secretariat of the Republic of Serbia, have signed the Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions.

The Memorandum aims to provide a framework for more intensified cooperation between the Commission and the Public Policy Secretariat in regulatory impact assessments on market competition during the process of adoption of regulations by the Government, in order to enable timely identification of potential adverse effects of draft regulations on competition.

The improvement of the quality and impact of regulations is thus ensured, made in order to achieve as qualitative as possible regulatory environment, which directly affects the improvement of the business climate in the Republic of Serbia.

The Memorandum is signed in the light of the enhanced implementation of the Serbia Investment Climate Project, implemented by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Serbia, and endorsed by the British Embassy in Belgrade and the UK Good Governance Fund, whose representatives also attended the signing ceremony.

The Serbia Investment Climate Project aims at enhancing the business environment by reducing the administrative burden on the industry – by streamlining 1,750 administrative procedures for obtaining licenses, permits and approvals, and digitizing 100 procedures, in addition to eliminating practices that adversely affect the development of competition.