Employees of the Commission for Protection of Competition have attended a two-day training course on lobbying and successful public debating. The course was implemented with a high degree of interaction, covering topics such as – the role of public debate in creating public policies, elements of the organization of public debates, as well as how to conduct a debate.

Attendees of this course, organized through project funding provided by the Kingdom of Norway and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway in Belgrade, were provided with an opportunity to learn more about the characteristics of a successful lobbyist, in addition to various tactics and techniques utilized, including practical cases derived from the EU experiences showcasing the implementation of this skill. In such manner, the Commission representatives were presented with an opportunity to advance their advocacy skills, as well as to improve their expertise in disseminating their own knowledge-based capital and practical lessons learned from the competition policy field.

Photo: Fonet – Zoran Mrđa

The Commission for Protection of Competition has approved a concentration of undertakings created by the acquisition of control over Mining and Smelting Combine RTB Bor d.o.o. Bor, executed on the part of company Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd., PR China.

Zijin Mining Group as a China-based company is engaged in the exploration and mining of gold, copper, zinc and other mineral resources, with no previous market presence in Serbia.

The Commission for Protection of Competition has instituted ex officio proceedings for investigation of infringement of competition against four pharmaceutical companies, namely Farmix d.o.o., Beohem-3 d.o.o., Makler d.o.o. and Pharmaswiss d.o.o., all from Belgrade. It is reasonably assumed that said undertakings have been involved in collusive bidding in public procurements of medications used for Hemophilia, i.e. have shared the Hemophilia public supply market in the period from 2014 to 2017. The market sharing practices between competitors are considered to be a form of very serious infringement of competition.

Based on the Commission for Protection of Competition’s reasonable assumption of the existence of objective risks of removal or alteration of evidence in the possession of the parties, the authorized officials of the Commission have conducted dawn raids on the business premises of companies subject to the proceedings concerned immediately following the opening of investigations. On the occasion, they have inspected and checked business premises and belongings of the parties, including computers and other e-data storage media. Also, the Commission has examined contracts, financial and other business documentation, as well as business correspondence, all related to the investigation into the existence of competition infringement.

All persons in possession of data, documents or other relevant information which could contribute to the accurate fact-finding in the proceedings concerned are called upon to submit said to the Commission for Protection of Competition, 25/IV Savska St., Belgrade.

The experts from the French Competition Authority, Autorité de la concurrence, have held a two-day seminar designed to advance the efficiency of competition policy enforcement in Serbia via the exchange of experiences with peers from the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia and representatives of other institutions interested in the area of competition law and policy.This seminar was organized by the Ministry of European Integration of the Republic of Serbia and the Embassy of the Republic of France in Belgrade, in line with the needs of the Commission.

In opening the event, Dr. Veljko Milutinović, member of the Council of the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia, has welcomed the seminar participants.
In its address, Dr. Milutinović has underlined that “the Commission, after twelve years of operations, has gained a significant experience and its staff members have already accumulated a great body of knowledge, thus making it increasingly less needed to be educated and progressively more important to provide guidance to others. This, nevertheless, does not reduce the importance of such seminars. On the contrary, the transition to an interactive phase, which is a phase of an active exchange of knowledge and experiences, marks an important milestone for the Commission. In that respect, meetings of this kind are of vital importance.”

The lecturers from the French Competition Authority, An Krencer, Eliezer Garcia-Rosado and Marianne Kombalduire, have presented the new practical experiences of the France’s national competition regulator to the representatives of the Commission for Protection of Competition and the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications. This year’s topics related to the practical aspects of the relief or reduction from the commitment payment from measures for protection of competition, leniency program, collusive bidding in public procurements and dawn raids.
The cooperation between France and Serbia in the competition policy domain is implemented as part of the Serbia’s converging efforts in relation to the European practices and legislation implemented in the area relevant to the EU accession criteria, defined as: “sustainable market economy and capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union.”
This seminar is the continuation of cooperation between the two institutions, commenced with the first French-Serbian competition policy seminar held in October 2017.

The Commission for Protection of Competition has imposed a procedural penalty measure in the amount of 8,500 euro against undertaking „MIMO” d.o.o. Beograd, due to its failure to act on the Commission’s Request for the provision of information.

In the aforementioned request ordering the submission of data for the purpose of a proceedings for investigation of competition infringement instituted ex officio by the Commission against company Industrija smrznute hrane „Frikom” d.o.o., company „Mimo” was on two occasions warned of the consequences of omission in respect of the Commission’s order.
Taking into account that extended deadline for the submission of requested data has also been reached on August 25, 2018 and that said company failed to address the Commission with a request for the deadline extension or otherwise informed the Commission of the reasons not to act on the Commission’s Request for the provision of information, the Commission Council has enacted a decision on the procedural penalty measure.

Company „MIMO” d.o.o. Beograd is obligated to execute the penalty payment in the aforesaid amount within two months of receipt of the decision concerned, under the threat of enforcement measure. The amount set as a procedural penalty measure is paid into the Budget account of the Republic of Serbia.
Conducts contrary to the Commission’s orders, that is failures to act on its orders, are subject to the procedural penalty measures in the amount of 500-5,000 euro for each day of such conduct or omission, which is regulated by the provisions of Article 70 of the Law on Protection of Competition
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When setting the amount of penalty payments, the Commission implements the criteria stipulated in the Law on Protection of Competition and the Regulation on criteria for setting the amount payable on the basis of measure for protection of competition and sanctions for procedural breaches, manner and terms for payment thereof and conditions for determination of respective measures, as well as in the Guidelines for implementation of the Regulation on criteria for setting the amount payable (…), enacted by the Commission Council on May 19, 2011.

The Law on Protection of Competition specifies that procedural penalty may not exceed 10% of the total annual revenue calculated in a manner stipulated by the Law. Also, procedural penalty measure does not release a party for the obligation to submit requested data, i.e. to act on the Commission’s requests.