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 and CPC Council member Čedomir Radojčić have met today with Professor Alberto Heimler, one of the world’s leading competition and antitrust experts. Professor Heimler currently holds the position of Chairman of the Working Party on Competition and Regulation and Vice-Chairman of the Competition Committee of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The topics of discussion related to the exchange of experiences in the field of regulation and competition enforcement interplay, as well as improvement of the Commission’s practice in assessing provisions about competition in regulations passed in the Republic of Serbia. The latter represents one of the priorities in activities pursued by the Commission for Protection of Competition since only a pro-competitive legislative framework can bring better guarantees for a level playing field in the Serbian market.

The Commission’s guest presented the scope of his activities to the President and CPC Council member, in particular, the work within the Steering Group of the International Competition Network (ICN) and his activities as Co-Chair of the Working Group on the Operational Framework.

Professor Heimler, author of several important papers on antimonopoly and regulatory issues published in the top international academic journals, will hold a series of workshops in the Commission under the Twinning program, followed by expert-level discussions and exchange of experiences on competition policy and law in Serbia and globally.