The Sector Inquiry into the Rail Freight Transport Market in the Republic of Serbia is done in cooperation with the WB Group representatives under the Serbia Investment Climate Program. Under the Program, the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the International Finance Cooperation have signed the Agreement on Cooperation envisaging, inter alia, the provision of technical support by the WBG to the Commission for Protection of Competition to boost competition and regulate markets in the Republic Serbia. The selection and prioritization of sectors are carried out based on the WBG Markets and Competition Policy Assessment Tool (MCPAT). For the purposes of this project, the inquiry was conducted by the Compass Lexecon and Karanović & Partners Consortium.

The subject of the inquiry is the market for cargo transportation by railway, providing an in-depth analysis of the competition environment of this market along the value/supply chain, market structure and dynamics, regulatory environment and market performances, in addition to identifying practices and rules that can distort the level playing field and facilitate non-competitive market outcomes.

The inquiry found no material elements that would indicate an infringement of the competition rules. Instead, the main reasons for insufficient market development established in the Report are as follows: low quality of rail infrastructure, outdated train path allocation procedures, and the lack of intermodal transport terminals, constituting substantial barriers to entry and business growth. Despite the deficiencies noted, it is established that the cargo transportation market in the Republic of Serbia is still in the early stages of development since it is open to competition only since 2016. As one of the reasons for such suboptimal situation, the authors also state the domestic price regulation policy in force, noting that the fixed tariffs for national transportation services as provided by the Government of the Republic of Serbia hinder price competitiveness.

The Commission hereby wishes to express its gratitude to all undertakings providing requested information during the inquiry and invites all persons and other experts to provide their commentaries to the Report no later than September 10, 2020, to the email address office.kzk@kzk.gov.rs, with annotation: Commentary to the Sector Inquiry into the Rail Freight

The Commission for Protection of Competition conducted a sector inquiry into the retail sale in non-specialized stores with food, beverages and tobacco predominating, covering a two-year period (2017-2018). The objective of the inquiry was to establish relations between market competitors in the retail sale in non-specialized stores with food, beverages and tobacco predominating in the territory of the Republic of Serbia, in terms of assessing their market share and relative power, as well as to analyze relations between suppliers and selected trade chains with respect to individual product categories.

The recommendations provided by the Commission constitute an integral part of the report, in which the Commission expressed a need for a public trade register that would considerably facilitate the monitoring of this trade segment in the coming period, while also reiterating the importance of cooperation with other government authorities in terms of submitting all relevant legislation and regulations for the provision of legal opinions.

The Commission wishes to express its gratitude to all undertakings for their timely and proper submission of requested data during the inquiry drafting process, and concomitantly invites all undertakings and other members of the expert public to submit their commentaries to the report, as well as to give proposals and suggestions for the follow-up reports, no later than February 28, 2020, to the email address: office.kzk@kzk.gov.rs, with the subject line: Comments to the sector inquiry into retail market.

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 21(1/6) of the Law on Protection of Competition, the Commission for Protection of Competition conducted an inquiry into competitive conditions in the sunflower production and sales market in the territory of the Republic of Serbia for the period 2016-2018.

The purpose of the inquiry was to gain an understanding of the sunflower production and sales market, from a market structure perspective and by observing the market shares of individual market participants, as well as to analyze the trends in sunflower purchase prices during the period observed. The inquiry covered the data on production, purchase, import, and export of sunflower seeds, as well as on the export and import of raw and refined sunflower oil during the period observed.

The inquiry used data provided by the Ministry of Finance – Customs Administration on the import and export of sunflower and sunflower oil, in addition to publicly available information provided by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia on the sunflower and sunflower oil production, as well as information provided by undertakings – sunflower buyers and producers, namely: Dijamant AD from Zrenjanin, Vital AD from Vrbas, Sunce AD from Sombor, Banat AD from Nova Crnja, Victoriaoil AD from Šid, Bimal Trading doo from Belgrade, and Bimal Agri doo from Bečej.

The Commission wishes to express its gratitude to all undertakings for their timely and proper submission of requested data during the inquiry drafting process, and concomitantly invites all undertakings and other members of the expert public to submit their commentaries to the report, to the email address: office.kzk@kzk.gov.rs, with the subject line: Comments to the inquiry into sunflower market.

Noting the importance of this crop for the development of food industry and the overall industrial development, as well as the conclusions of this inquiry, the Commission will put particular emphasis on due-diligence measures in the future in order to monitor the behavior of undertakings and identify particular circumstances prevailing in this market which might indicate any violation of the Law on Protection of Competition.

Pursuant to Article 47 of the Law on Protection of Competition, the Commission for Protection of Competition conducted the ninth sector inquiry into the oil derivatives retail market. The objective of the sector inquiry was to establish the relations between main competitors operating in the oil derivatives retail market in 2018 and to assess their market shares and relative market power.

The inquiry was based on a representative sample of 19 business entities operating in the oil derivatives retail domain and whose petrol stations account for 58% of the total number of petrol stations in Serbia.

The conclusions derived from such an analysis allowing for, inter alia, an overview of trends both in the oil production and refining market and the oil derivatives retail market, in addition to the structure and retail price trends of selected oil derivatives, are an integral part of the report.

The Commission assessed the degree of compliance with recommendations provided in the previous reports and reiterated the importance of establishing a precise statistical record on the oil and oil derivatives and the importance of cooperation with other competent institutions towards creating a legal and business environment favorable to free competition in the market.

The Commission hereby expresses its gratitude to all undertakings that have regularly submitted the requested data during the inquiry drafting process, and also invites undertakings and other members of the expert public to send their commentaries to the report via e-mail to: office.kzk@kzk.gov.rs, with annotation: Commentary to the Sector inquiry into the oil and oil derivatives market.

The Commission for Protection of Competition has completed the sector inquiry into the retail sale in non-specialized stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating, covering a three-year period (2014-2016). The subject of the inquiry was to establish relations between market competitors in terms of assessing their market share and relative power, as well as to analyze relations between suppliers and trade chains, and possible effects of those relations on the state of market competition, and to conduct an analysis of the role and importance of private label branding.

The comprehensive results of the inquiry and related conclusions presented in the Report may provide a good starting point for future research of not only the Commission for Protection of Competition but also other competent authorities of the Republic of Serbia, as well as undertakings themselves.

The integral part of the report also includes recommendations in which the Commission has underlined the need to establish a public trade register that would considerably facilitate the monitoring of this trade segment in the coming period, but also the importance of cooperation established with other state authorities in terms of submitting all relevant legislation and regulations for the provision of opinions.

Considering the exceptional importance of this trade segment, as of March 1, 2019, the Commission will launch a sector inquiry into competitive conditions prevailing on this market for 2017-2018.

The Commission hereby expresses its gratitude to all undertakings that have regularly submitted the requested data during the inquiry drafting process, and also calls all undertakings and other members of the expert public to send their commentaries to the report, as well as recommendations and suggestions for the follow-up inquiry, no later than February 28, 2019, to the following email address: office.kzk@kzk.gov.rs, with annotation: The commentary to the sector inquiry into the retail market.

The Commission for Protection of Competition conducted a sector inquiry into the oil derivatives retail market in the Republic of Serbia in 2017. The subject of the inquiry was to determine the relationships between main competitors in the defined market segments towards making a comparative trend analysis by particular categories and identifying potential market weaknesses.

The integral part of the report consists of derived conclusions that allow for, inter alia, an overall perception of trends both on the oil production and refining market and on the oil derivatives retail market, in addition to the structure and trends in retail pricing of selected oil derivatives.

The Commission has assessed the degree of compliance with recommendations provided in previous reports and reiterated the significance of creating detailed statistical records on oil and oil derivatives and the importance of cooperation with other competent authorities towards creating a legal and business environment which will improve free competition in markets.

Considering the importance of oil sector for the energy industry and overall industrial development, as of March 1, 2019, the Commission will begin to conduct an inquiry into competitive conditions on this market for 2018.

The Commission hereby expresses its gratitude to all undertakings that have regularly submitted the requested data during the inquiry drafting process, and also calls all undertakings and other members of the expert public to send their commentaries to the report, as well as recommendations and suggestions for the follow-up inquiry, to the following email address: office.kzk@kzk.gov.rs, with annotation: The commentary to the sector inquiry into the oil and oil derivatives market, no later than February 28, 2019.

The Commission for Protection of Competition conducted a sector inquiry into the baby equipment wholesale and retail market. The Commission noted the need to analyze competitive conditions on said market considering the lack of prior knowledge of its structure, in addition to the fact that this sector is very often a topic of discussion in the media.
For the inquiry related needs, the Commission identified eight product categories within the broader baby equipment market, among them the products subject to VAT refunds, namely: baby milk, baby diapers, strollers, cribs, car seats, feeding chairs, clothes and footwear (for up to 3-year-olds).

The primary objective of the inquiry was to assess the size and volume of defined markets and identify major undertakings. The goal of the inquiry was also to detect particular tendencies and trends through a comparative analysis of turnover indicators and to draw concrete conclusions on market mechanisms.

The Commission hereby expresses its gratitude to all undertakings that have regularly submitted the requested data during the inquiry drafting process, and also calls all undertakings and other members of the expert public to send their commentaries to the report, to the following email address: office.kzk@kzk.gov.rs, with annotation: The commentary to the baby equipment market inquiry, no later than January 31, 2019.

Considering the significance of the market concerned, against the background of free market access and free price system, and also the existing market structure, the Commission will continue to monitor the behavior of undertakings on the market concerned with due care and analyze circumstances potentially indicating the infringement of the Law on Protection of Competition.

The Commission for Protection of Competition has conducted an inquiry into competitive conditions on the cement production and sales market in the territory of the Republic of Serbia for the period 2014-2017. For the inquiry-related purposes, the Gray (Portland) cement market is identified as the relevant product market. The primary objective of this inquiry was to look into the structure and dynamics of competition on the market concerned.

Within the Gray (Portland) cement market, the Commission has specifically analyzed the production, import, export, and wholesale segments.

The inquiry used data provided by the Ministry of Finance-Customs Administration on the cement import and export, publicly available data of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia on the Grey cement production and sales, as well as data provided by undertakings, cement manufacturers and importers, namely: CRH (Srbija) d.o.o. from Popovac, Lafarge beočinska fabrika cementa d.o.o. from Beočin, “TITAN” d.o.o. from Kosjerić, CEMEX SRB DOO from Niš, and NEXE BETON DOO NOVI SAD from Veternik.

The Commission hereby expresses its gratitude to all undertakings that have regularly submitted the requested data during the inquiry drafting process, and also calls all undertakings and other members of the expert public to send their commentaries to the report, to the following email address: office.kzk@kzk.gov.rs, with annotation: The commentary to the cement market inquiry.

Considering the cement industry significance for the development of civil engineering and overall industrial development, as well as conclusions of this inquiry, the Commission will continue to monitor the behavior of this market’s undertakings with due care, and circumstances potentially indicating the infringement of the Law on Protection of Competition.

The Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia and the National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED) have organized a conference today, presenting the results of phase one of the sector inquiry into the food, beverages and tobacco retail market in the Republic of Serbia, prepared by the Commission for Protection of Competition.

During the conference held in the City Assembly of Belgrade, keynote addresses were given by President of the Commission for Protection of Competition Dr. Miloje Obradović, State Secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Vesna Kovač, and Vladimir Čupić, President of the Food and Agriculture Alliance of NALED and Director of the Atlantic Group Representative Office for Serbia.

The inquiry was presented by Aleksandra Ravić from the Economic Analyses Division of the Commission for Protection of Competition.

Following presentation of the inquiry-based results, a panel session on retail market prospects in Serbia was also held, attended by Dr. Siniša Milošević, Head of the Economic Analyses Division of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Bojana Amanović from the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, Dr. Goran Petković, Full Professor at the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade, and Goran Kovačević, NALED Fair Competition Alliance and CEO of Gomex.

The Commission for Protection of Competition conducted a competition conditions inquiry into the tire market on the territory of the Republic of Serbia in the period 2014-2016.

The research is conducted with a view to achieve more qualitative and comprehensive approach in the work on sector-related cases. In that respect, the inquiry’s main objective related to the establishment of market structure, market coverage, relations between competitors and their respective market shares.

This inquiry is prepared in accordance with the provision of Article 21(1/6) of the Law on Protection of Competition, stipulating the Commission’s competence to monitor and analyze conditions of competition on individual markets and in individual sectors.

For the purposes of this inquiry, the following relevant markets are defined and individually analyzed:

• motor vehicle tire market,
• bus and truck tire market,
• motorcycle and bicycle tire market,
• agricultural vehicles and machinery tire market,
• construction and industrial vehicles and machinery tire market.

The Commission also analyzed the production and import as segments of supply, in addition to the export and sales on the domestic market as segments of demand for the tires concerned.

The main sources of data and information for the preparation of this inquiry are data provided by the Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance, data submitted by undertakings, as well as publicly available data, including Internet-based data and current regulations. The Commission forwarded requests for the submission of information to tire manufacturers in Serbia, namely: Tire manufacturing company Tigar tyers doo Pirot, companies Trayal korporacija ad Kruševac and Cooper tire & rubber company Serbia doo Kruševac, in addition to the largest tire dealers and sellers.