At the Fifth Sitting of the Second Regular Session held on November 14, 2019, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Decision on the Election of the President and three Council members of the Commission for Protection of Competition.

The new Commission President is Nebojša Perić, and three Council members are Miroslava Đošić, Danijela Bokan, and dr Siniša Milošević. All candidates are elected at the proposal of the Committee on the Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy, for a five-year term.

The Decision on the Appointment is published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia No. 81 of November 15, 2019.

In cooperation with the Japan Fair Trade Commission, the Commission for Protection of Competition organized seminars for students enrolled in undergraduate, master, and doctoral academic studies in universities in Belgrade, Novi Sad, and Niš.

The keynote addresses during the first seminar are given by H.E. Junichi Maruyama, Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Serbia, and Slobodan Vuksanović, Director of the Museum of Pedagogy, followed by expert presentations provided by Gordana Bulatović, Head of the Division for Competition Advocacy and International Affairs, Nina Vasić, Senior Advisor at the Division for Competition Advocacy and International Affairs, Takujiro Kono, Head of the Strategic Planning Division, JFTC, and Atsushi Nakahata, Head of the International Affairs Division, JFTC.

The academics were given an opportunity to learn about fundamental principles of competition policy, in addition to a number of concrete examples drawn from the practice illustrating the fight against cartels and other forms of anti-competitive behaviors.
By organizing such seminars, the Commission for Protection of Competition wishes to reaffirm the interest and commitment of students for competition policy in their scholarly works and to provide support to academics in pursuing their future professional careers in antitrust.

The seminars are held at the Museum of Pedagogy in Belgrade, and Novi Sad and Niš University Rectorates.

The Embassy of Japan in Belgrade and the Japan International Cooperation Agency provided support towards organizing the seminars.

The Foreign Investors Council presented the White Book 2019, a publication published yearly that provides an overview of the business environment, in addition to recommendations for its improvement from the investors’ perspective.

Foreign investors this year also remarked the significant progress achieved in the work of the Commission for Protection of Competition, in addition to the increased scope of the Commission’s activities in various fields of its competence, as well as its readiness to use complex mechanisms provided for by the Law.

The document commended the Commission’s efforts to more intensely use advanced economic analysis in inquiries into competition infringements and complex mergers, as well as its advance use of new econometric software to increase the quality of economic analysis in cases before the Commission.

This year’s White Book also states: “In 2018, the Commission continued making progress in competition advocacy and public relations. The Commission regularly informs the public on its activities and publishes a great majority of its decisions on its official website. However, it is noticeable that the Commission does not publish all the decisions in relevant areas or that it publishes them with significant delays, which does not contribute to either transparency or legal certainty. The Commission published on its website the Guidelines on Rights and Obligations of the Parties during Dawn Raids, as well as the Leniency Policy Leaflet. This positive development concerning competition advocacy is important as it contributes to the overall improvement of the current legal framework and to better understanding on the part of the general public and the media of competition rules and activities and the importance of the Commission’s role.”

The investors’ reiterated recommendations to the Commission are to proceed with the adoption of regulations governing particular categories of key importance for the completion of the competition regulatory framework, issue publications of the relevant definitions of product markets, and produce clear guidelines and instructions containing the manner of application of certain provisions of the Law, aimed at increasing the transparency and legal certainty.

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 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.