Drop in Competition Authority activities

Since May 2014 the Commission for the Protection of Competition has experienced a slight drop in activities.

Between May and August 2014 the commission rendered five merger clearances and imposed two fines in misdemeanour proceedings.

All five merger control proceedings were closed in Phase 1, demonstrating the commission's efficiency when approaching these cases – the approximate timeframe for the scrutiny of mergers is usually around one month.

Misdemeanour proceedings were conducted in May 2014 and resulted in fines of €15,000 on each of the two media companies investigated for not notifying the concentration and for breach of the suspension obligation.

One novelty of Macedonian competition legislation is the amendments to the Competition Act enacted in March 2014. The only change the act introduced relates to the administrative aspects of electing the commission's professional staff. The amendments will enter into force in March 2015 and the law will explicitly prescribe the conditions and procedures for the appointment of the president and commission members.

For further information on this topic please contact Srdjana Petronijević at Moravčević Vojnović i Partneri in cooperation with Schoenherr by telephone (+381 11 320 26 00), fax (+381 11 320 26 10) or email (s.petronijevic@schoenherr.rs). The Moravčević Vojnović i Partneri website can be accessed at www.schoenherr.rs.