Serbia updates
Competition & Antitrust
Contributed by SchoenherrConditional merger clearance triggers abuse of dominance proceedings
- Serbia
- 02 August 2018
The Serbian Competition Authority has initiated ex officio antitrust proceedings against Serbia Broadband – Srpske kablovske mreže doo Belgrade on grounds of suspected abuse of dominance. This is the first case in which the authority has initiated abuse of dominance proceedings based on soft behavioural remedy (ie, the obligation to report prices).
Western Balkan Competition Forum on horizon
- Serbia
- 26 July 2018
The Serbian Competition Authority and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development have launched an initiative to establish a regional competition forum. The forum will include all Western Balkan states (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania) and two EU member states (Slovenia and Croatia). The Centre for Liberal-Democratic Studies has been enlisted as a consultant to help design, implement and manage the forum's operations.
Serbian Competition Authority increases dawn raid activity
- Serbia
- 19 July 2018
The Serbian Competition Authority has increased its dawn raid activity over the past year. Although conducting dawn raids has been a part of the authority's remit since 2009, no such raids were carried out until the end of 2015. To date, the authority has conducted dawn raids in approximately 10 of its proceedings. The majority of these raids were conducted to establish the existence of restrictive agreements.
Competition Authority's regional cooperation
- Serbia
- 21 December 2017
The Competition Authority recently intensified its regional cooperation. Representatives of the authority met with colleagues from the Competition Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina and attended conferences organised by the competition authorities of Romania and Croatia. As a further step towards regional cooperation, there is a plan to establish the Competition Forum of the Western Balkans, with the aim of facilitating cooperation, enhancing harmonisation and improving national legislation.
