kzkThe Commission for Protection of Competition and public prosecutors’ offices held a joint workshop to exchange experiences regarding public procurement procedures in which violations of competition, as stipulated in Article 10 of the Law on Protection of Competition, were identified. This workshop was organized by the Judicial Academy as part of the USAID project aimed at improving public procurement.

The workshop presented and analyzed measures for the protection of competition and the leniency program under the Law on Protection of Competition. It also addressed restrictive agreements and the specifics of administrative procedures related to public procurement, where violations of competition as outlined in Article 10 of the Law on Protection of Competition were identified. Additionally, it covered prosecutorial practices concerning the conditions for criminal prosecution of offenses related to abuse in connection with public procurement under Article 228, paragraph 1, and the conclusion of restrictive agreements under Article 229, paragraph 1, of the Criminal Code and the conditions for optional exemption from penalties as stipulated in Article 229, paragraph 2, of the Criminal Code.

Following discussions at the workshop, conclusions and recommendations were adopted to define the scope and possibilities for collaboration between the Commission for Protection of Competition and the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The workshop was attended by public prosecutors from Belgrade, Niš, Novi Sad, and Kraljevo, as well as representatives from the Commission for Protection of Competition.