President of the Commission for Protection of Competition Dr. Miloje Obradović has met with Minister of State Administration and Local-Self Government of the Republic of Serbia Branko Ružić.

The main meeting topics related to the possibilities of enhancing cooperation aimed to underpin the quality of operations of public administration in the Republic of Serbia, enabling further improvements to the business environment, level playing field for all undertakings, economic stability of Serbia and a rise in the standard of living of citizens.

Dr. Obradović has also presented the Commission’s operations to date and future plans to Minister Ružić on the occasion, particularly those concerning the improvement of the legislative framework governing competition policy, implemented foremost in light of improving business conditions for all business entities in the Republic of Serbia.

A meeting between authorized CPC representatives and members of the Independent Association of Farmers of Serbia took place today in the Commission for Protection of Competition.

Representatives of the Independent Association of Farmers of Serbia have presented their views on the relation of oil producers towards sunflower farmers. With regard to the issues presented, IAF representatives have been informed that the Commission, in cooperation with other state institutions, will act in accordance with competences entrusted to it by the Law on Protection of Competition.

The Commission for Protection of Competition has instituted four new in-depth antitrust investigation proceedings against ten undertakings operating on the baby care products market, based on reasonable doubt that the parties have concluded restrictive agreements in order to fix prices of baby care products in further sale (such as pacifiers and dummies, soothers and teethers, baby bottles, milk pumps, baby cosmetics, textile, etc.).

The ex officio proceedings instituted to establish the infringement of competition concern the following companies: Yuglob doo Beograd, Keprom doo Beograd, Aksa doo Beograd, „K-Pharma“ HI Pharmacy from Beograde and HI Pharmacy Kraljevo, as well as pharmaceutical wholesalers, companies Farmalogist doo Beograd, Vega doo Valjevo, Lekovit doo Šabac, Medicom doo Šabac and NS Pharm doo Novi Sad.

Note that already in April 2018, the Commission for Protection of Competition has instituted two in-depth investigation proceedings in order to establish potential infringements of competition on the baby care products market.

The Commission for Protection of Competition believes that the baby care products market is of utmost importance for consumers, as well as for the society as a whole, and uses this opportunity to remind the public that in addition to the mentioned investigation proceedings, the Commission is conducting a sector inquiry into the entire baby equipment market, the results of which will be presented to the general public.

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

The Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia has designated a representative this year as well, to attend a two-week seminar on effective implementation of competition policy, traditionally organized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency – JICA and the Japan Fair Trade Commission – JFTC.

Senior Advisor at the CPC Economic Analyses Division, Aleksandra Ravić, was one of other eight representatives of competition authorities from around the world who were selected from among numerous candidates to attend this prestigious international seminar. This seminar provided participants with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with competition policy implementation practices in Japan, presented with an overall aim of achieving insights into increasingly effective implementation of competition law, strengthening institutional capacities and raising the level of awareness on the role and importance of competition policy in the participants’ countries.

Since its establishment in 2006, the Commission has participated in this competition policy professional training program.

The CPC’s participation at the Tokyo seminar marks the continuation of successful cooperation established between the Serbian Commission and the Japan Fair Trade Commission, which was also reinforced by this year’s successfully organized two-day seminar in Belgrade, where Professor Arisa Wakabayashi from Komazawa University, Tokyo, spoke on the current and future challenges of Japan in fighting cartels and bid rigging practices, as well as Hideyuki Shimozu, Senior Planning Officer from the International Affairs Division of JFTC, who spoke on the legislative framework and competition policy enforcement practices of Japan.

Renowned publisher Springer has published eProceedings from the international conference “Institution Building of the National Competition Authorities in South-East Europe” held in Belgrade in June 2016, organized by the Commission for Protection of Competition in cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

This highly successful conference was opened by President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Dr. Miloje Obradović, EBRD Director for Serbia, Daniel Berg, and Head of the Negotiating Team for Accession of the Republic of Serbia to the EU, Tanja Miščević, while SEE region participants were able to exchange valuable experiences and views during the conference.

The proceedings contain contributions and papers prepared by employees of the Commission for Protection of Competition, as well as international and national competition policy experts.

The proceedings are published as a part of the Springer’s Contributions to Economics book series, which provides an outlet for innovative research in all areas of economics, published in print and ebook volumes and disseminated and promoted globally.

eProceedings can be downloaded from the following link:

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-76644-7