The Regulation on the application of deadlines in administrative proceedings during the state of emergency (Official Gazette of the RS 041/2020, hereinafter – the Regulation), which entered into force on March 24, 2020, provides for the treatment in respect of the application of deadlines in administrative proceedings during the state of emergency.

The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia enacted the Decision on the abolition of the state of emergency (Official Gazette of the RS 065/2020), which entered into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette of the RS, that is, on May 6, 2020.

Noting the fact that the state of emergency is lifted on May 6, 2020, the application of deadlines in administrative proceedings under the Regulation ceased to apply on the same date.

The deadlines expired during the state of emergency or deadlines expiring in the period from March 24-May 6, 2020, shall be considered expired upon the expiration of 30 days from the day of the abolition of the state of emergency (i.e. on June 5, 2020). This relates to deadlines prescribed by the Law on Protection of Competition (Official Gazette of the RS 51/09 and 95/13, hereinafter – the Law) for filing merger notifications and requests for individual exemption or deadlines for taking administrative actions, closing of administrative procedures (for example, decisions in merger cases) and deciding on the declared judicial remedies.

It follows therefrom that the parties to proceedings, pursuant to the Law, may be liable for the consequences of the improper performance and failure to act within the deadlines set in conclusions and other orders of the Commission for acting in ongoing administrative procedures, including proceedings instituted at the request of the party or ex officio. Under the Law, undertakings may be liable for the consequences of their improper performance and failure to act within the deadlines set in conclusions and other orders of the Commission in sector inquires.

The Regulation on the application of deadlines in administrative proceedings during the state of emergency („Official Gazette of the RS“, no. 41/2020, hereinafter – the Regulation), which entered into force on March 24, 2020, applies to administrative proceedings before the Commission, including concentration review proceedings and requests for individual exemptions of restrictive agreements, pursuant to the Law on Protection of Competition („Official Gazette of the RS“, nos. 51/09 and 95/13, hereinafter – the Law). The Regulation only refers to deadlines concerning written applications submitted during the state of emergency, and does not affect the implementation of other provisions in the Law, by-laws and other regulations.

In order to achieve legal certainty, protect the rights of the parties and foster the public interest, the Commission wishes to provide the following clarifications:

- while undertakings are still legally bound to notify concentrations and request individual exemptions, they shall not bear the consequences of their failure to comply with the deadlines set by the Law for notification of concentrations and requests for individual exemptions;

- deadlines expiring during the state of emergency, which concern taking administrative action, closing administrative proceedings (for example, adopting decisions in concentration summary proceedings) and deciding upon legal remedies, shall be deemed to have expired 30 days after the termination of the state of emergency;

- delivery of acts in administrative proceedings causing non-extendable deadlines to start running (acts such as decisions, resolutions closing the proceedings, resolutions on the protection of information), which occurs during the state of emergency, shall be deemed to have occurred, for the purpose of the prescribed deadlines, 15 days after the termination of the state of emergency;

- parties to the proceedings shall not bear the consequences of their failure to comply with the timelimit set in resolutions and other acts of the Commission requiring specific actions or conduct in ongoing ex parte and ex officio administrative proceedings; however, since the accurate and complete determination of facts is in the interest of the parties, the Commission invites them to act in a timely manner to the extent possible under the circumstances of the state of emergency;

- undertakings shall not bear the consequences of their failure to comply with timelimit set in resolutions and other acts of the Commission requiring their action in the context of sector inquiries.

While ensuring the consistent enforcement of this Regulation, the Commission will continue to decide on the rights and obligations of undertakings in accordance with the Law.

Based on the Decision on the declaration of the state of emergency on the territory of the Republic of Serbia due to the infectious disease outbreak caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, no meetings shall be held with the parties on the premises of the Commission for Protection of Competition until further notice, as part of the measures to prevent further spread of the disease. During the state of emergency, communication shall be conducted via email (office@kzk.gov.rs).

Written submissions (apart from notifications of concentrations) and other correspondence can be submitted electronically, at the e-mail address pisarnica@kzk.gov.rs or using the PE Pošta Srbije postal services.

Notifications of concentrations and e-mails with attachments exceeding 100MB in size should be submitted by post or directly at the Registrar’s Office.

The Commission for Protection of Competition wishes to thank you for your understanding and responsible behavior during these extraordinary circumstances.

Following the sector inquiry into the retail sale in non-specialized stores with food, beverages and tobacco predominating for the period 2017-2018 and the analysis of obtained agreements entered into by suppliers of individual goods and their buyers, the Commission for Protection of Competition instituted antitrust investigation proceedings against 23 undertakings.

Based on reasonable grounds for believing that the parties have entered into a restrictive agreement referred to in Article 10 of the Law on Protection of Competition, that is, agreements containing the resale price maintenance clauses, the Commission for Protection of Competition instituted proceedings against two suppliers – AD Imlek and Apatinska pivara, and buyers – food retailers.

The Commission hereby invites all persons in possession of data, documents or other relevant information that could contribute to more accurate fact-finding in this proceeding to present said evidence the Commission for Protection of Competition, 25 Savska St., 4th Floor, Belgrade.

The Commission for Protection of Competition instituted proceedings against undertakings, companies „MITECO“ – Kneževac, „YUNIRISK“ – Beograd, „MODEKOLO“ – Beograd, „BREM GROUP“ – Beograd, and „KEMIS“ – Valjevo, based on a reasonable belief that the said parties have committed a competition law infringement referred to in Article 10 of the Law on Protection of Competition, by engaging in collusive joint bidding agreements in a public procurement announced by the Ministry of Environmental Protection as the Contracting Authority.

In parallel to instituting proceedings, authorized officials of the Commission for Protection of Competition have conducted a dawn raid in five locations and collected relevant documentation necessary to establish facts in the proceedings.
All persons are invited to submit data, documents or other relevant information in their possession that could contribute to the accurate fact-finding in this proceeding to the Commission for Protection of Competition, 25 Savska St., 4th Floor, Belgrade.