The Montenegrin national competition authority (NCA), the Agency for Protection of Competition, has started a probe into alleged state aid to the country’s flag carrier airline – Montenegro Airlines.
Last year, the Serbian national competition authority (NCA) for the first time launched an antitrust probe against a foreign-based entity – Polish sports equipment manufacturer Polanik. Now, the NCA has decided to terminate the investigation, which means that the wait for the first cross-border antitrust fine in Serbia continues.
The Serbian national competition authority (NCA) has opened a Phase II investigation of a planned concentration in the baking industry.
Serbia
Serbia: JV Between Major Retailers of Consumer Electronics Goes into Phase II
Posted on March 31, 2019The Serbian NCA seems to have set its sights on merger control: during the entire 2018 it had only one Phase II investigation, while during the first quarter of 2019 alone it has launched two such probes. Specifically, following the launch of a Phase II probe of a planned acquisition of a local cable operator by Telecom Serbia, the NCA is now investigating a planned JV between two leading retailers of consumer electronics and home appliances.
Serbia
Serbia: Dawn Raids in Four Pharmaceutical Wholesalers, Bid Rigging Probe Launched
Posted on September 30, 2018The Serbian NCA – Commission for Protection of Competition – has continued with its recent hyperactivity. This time, it has started an investigation against four pharmaceutical wholesalers, for alleged bid rigging.
The Serbian NCA, Commission for Protection of Competition, announced today it has abandoned its case against the Serbian Bar Association. The NCA had started the investigation back in 2014, related to the setting of bar admission fees, payable by lawyers wishing to be admitted to the practice of law.
Now that it’s behind us, it’s safe to say the previous year was one of the most eventful ones since modern Serbian competition law came to being. This not only due to a fairly active Competition Commission, but also due to other developments, such as those surrounding the drafting of a new Competition Act.
As has been the case in previous years, the Serbian Competition Commission used the end of the year to close some of the cases it had been working on. This time, the Commission did so with two investigations: one concerning bid rigging in the field of overhaul of rail vehicles and the other about vertical price fixing. In both investigations the Commission had used dawn raid to gather evidence.