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.

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia has reached the Conclusion, dismissing the proposal for assessment of constitutionality of the provision of Article 45 of the Law on Protection of Competition. The proposal for assessment of constitutionality of the provision of Article 45 of the said Law was made last July by the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection.

The above-mentioned provision of Article 45 of the Law relates to the obligation of the Commission for Protection of Commission to adopt a measure, at the request of a party, protecting the source of information or specific data if it is evaluated that the interest of that applicant is justified and substantially more important than the public interest in terms of the subject of said request.

The assessment of the Commissioner that the provisions of Article 45 of the Law on Protection of Competition governing “safeguard measures” with respect of information as implemented by the Commission for Protection of Competition are contrary to the arrangements made under the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, is dismissed by the Constitutional Court in its conclusion reached during the session held on 25 April this year.

The Commission for Protection of Competition welcomes this move made by the Constitutional Court, noting that it contributes to the legal certainty of undertakings operating in the Republic of Serbia, but also to the harmonization of practice in cases pending before the Commission.

In proceedings pending before the competent competition authorities, including the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia, but also the EU Directorate-General for Competition and Member States’ national competition authorities, undertakings submit numerous, highly sensitive business information, such as on suppliers and buyers, value and volume of sales and purchases, market shares, reasons for entering into a merger, agreements, acts containing business plans and future development strategies, etc., without which the Commission could not exercise its competences entrusted to it by the Law. – The disclosure of such information to the third parties could result in serious harm for the same undertakings providing the information, which caused the introduction of a rule in the comparative practice governing modus operandi of the competition authorities not to disclose nor make available any information or documentation containing trade secrets or other business sensitive information.

Such practice is also generally accepted in the EU competition law, since the EC Notice on the rules for access to the Commission file in antitrust cases, Guidance on the preparation of public versions of merger decisions, as well as the Guidance on the preparation of public versions of Commission Decisions adopted under the Merger Regulation, provide examples which confirm that information on buyers, distributors, market plans, costs and prices, as well as sales strategies or other commercially valuable plans need to be considered a trade secret whose access to file must be refused. Similar position and competences of national competition authorities are also reconfirmed by the Directive (EU) 2019/1 of the European Parliament to empower the competition authorities of the Member States to be more effective enforcers and to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market.

The Commission for Protection of Competition is accountable for its work to the National Assembly, to which it submits annual activity reports. At the session held on March 27, 2019, the competent Parliamentary Committee discussed and adopted the 2018 Activity Report of the Commission for Protection of Competition.

At the 24th Special Sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, MPs have discussed the CPC Activity Report for 2018.

In its opening statement given before the National Assembly, President of the Commission Dr Miloje Obradović presented the main elements of the Activity Report, as well as the key activities of the Commission implemented during the reporting period.
The Commission’s report, according to President Obradović, contains all key elements concerning the operations implemented within the scope of competences of the institution. During the reporting period, the Commission has increased its administrative and institutional capacities and remained focused on efficient and effective enforcement and implementation of the law, towards ensuring the most efficient protection of competition in Serbia.

“Our goal is to create a competitive market where undertakings will increase their productivity, innovations and investments, resulting in the growth, development and increased standard of living of the citizens of the Republic of Serbia. The established high level of transparency and predictability in the operations of the Commission will remain key instruments in preserving the trust in the Commission’s work in the period to come and ensuring the legal certainty of undertakings”, said CPC President Obradović when speaking to the national MPs.

Snežana Petrović, President of the Committee on the Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, underlined “the fact that the activities implemented by the Commission and its overall competition policy operations represent one of the key pillars of the reform of the national economy, resulting from the commitment of our country to introduce a market-oriented economy and modern economic policy following a turbulent period in the previous decades. Based on experience to date, we can testify to the good example set by the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia in its work as an independent institution that practices and favors transparency of its operations, which also implies that the Commission is a subject to an assessment and control of citizens and the general public.”

The Activity Report, as well as operations of the Commission for Protection of Competition are commended by the majority of MPs in attendance, congratulating on the achieved results and supporting the continuing work of the Commission.

In addition to President Dr Obradović, CPC Council members also attended the plenary session during which the 2018 Activity Report of the Commission was discussed – Čedomir Radojčić, Mirjana Mišković-Vukašinović and Dr Veljko Milutinović, as well as the heads of the Administrative and Professional Service of the Commission for Protection of Competition.

The Commission for Protection of Competition has conducted a dawn raid on business premises of companies SCLift2018 and Mikrolift in Babušnica.

The dawn raid was undertaken as part of antitrust investigations launched ex officio against said parties on concerns that the parties have been involved in bid rigging during a public procurement of lift repair services for the General Hospital Pirot. This act could represent a form of restrictive agreement under Article 10 of the Law on Protection of Competition.

The unannounced inspection of business premises, business files, evidence, documents and belongings was conducted with the assistance of the Police Force officers on reasonable grounds to believe that there is a risk of removal or alteration of evidence.

All persons in possession of the facts, documents or other relevant information that could contribute to the accurate fact-finding in this proceeding are invited to submit said evidence to the following address: Commission for Protection of Competition, 25/IV Savska St., Belgrade.

The Commission for Protection of Competition hereby publishes the Notice of the Commitment Proposal, pursuant to Article 58 of the Law on Protection of Competition, which company EPS Distribucija d.o.o. Beograd is voluntarily willing to undertake in order to remove potential infringements of competition, with a call to all interested parties to submit written objections, positions and opinions on the proposed commitments.

The Commission for Protection of Competition has opened a special telephone hotline and email address for all parties in possession of information and other available facts of alleged instances of infringement of competition occurring on individual markets in the Republic of Serbia.

Information on all details concerning the possibility and means of submission of initiatives for the opening of antitrust investigations can be obtained via email address inicijativa@kzk.gov.rs or by calling our helpdesk at 011 38 11 958
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Given that the Commission, pursuant to Article 35 of the Law on Protection of Competition, may also open an antitrust investigation procedure based on the received initiatives, we are hereby inviting and encouraging all parties in possession of information or facts of the existence of any kind of breach of competition, to contact the Commission and submit an initiative for the opening of antitrust proceedings before the Commission. The initiatives will be reviewed and handled by the Commission officials. The complainants will be informed of the outcome of the related initiative immediately following its handling. In all cases where antitrust proceedings based on submitted initiatives are launched by the Commission, the complainants are also entitled to be informed about the course of the investigation procedure.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW that the complainants do not have the status of a party in ex officio proceedings initiated on their initiative, but that their identity, as well as information considered to be a trade secret or other business sensitive data, may be protected pursuant to Article 45 of the Law on Protection of Competition.