The highlight of this month's issue is our story on how state aid control led to the grounding of Montenegro's flag carrier airline, published on Kluwer Competition Law Blog.
Elsewhere in the Western Balkans, merger control activities continue, while the Bosnian NCA has found a distortion of competition on the market for veterinary services.
Serbia
Antitrust
Bus station operator abused dominance
The Serbian NCA has established that the operator of a bus station in the southern city of Niš abused its dominance by charging different prices for the use of its services. The NCA also fined the operator approx. EUR 320,000.
Montenegro
Antitrust
A restrictive agreement between Crnogorski Telekom and Voli Trade individually exempted
The Montenegrin NCA has granted an individual exemption from prohibition to a cooperation between the Montenegrin telecom incumbent (Crnogorski Telekom, part of Deutsche Telekom Group) and Voli Trade, a leading Montenegrin retailer. The agreement appears to relate to the sale of the telecom operator's SIM cards, electronic top ups, and other products in Voli's retail objects. As part of the individual exemption, the NCA also imposed certain reporting obligations on the parties to the agreement.
Merger control
Six new merger clearances
During February, the Montenegrin NCA issued six new merger clearances:
- Daimler AG (Germany), AB Volvo (Sweden) [JV]
- Petrol Crna Gora MNE doo (Montenegro) – Castellana doo (Montenegro) [part of business]
- Xella Srbija doo (Serbia) – PGP Rapid ad (Serbia)
- Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A (Italy) - Axa Insurance Societe Anonyme (Greece)
- Magna Metalforming GmbH (Austria), LG Electronics Inc. (Korea)
- Petrol Crna Gora MNE doo (Montenegro) - Senca doo (Montenegro) [part of business]
State aid
How State Aid Control Grounded Another Flag Carrier: The Case of Montenegro Airlines
Amidst a never-ending stream of news related to COVID-19, it went somewhat under the radar that another European flag carrier airline has been grounded – Montenegro Airlines. The halt of operations of the airline up came as a result of the inability of the government to further subsidize the loss-making carrier, due to state aid rules. What is the story behind this? [Read more on Kluwer Competition Law Blog]
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Antitrust
Government restricted competition by subsidies to veterinarians
The Bosnian NCA has established that the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina violated competition rules by adopting its program of subsidies for private companies and sole traders engaged in the provision of veterinary services. The NCA found that the Government distorted competition in the segment of veterinary lab diagnostics. The Government also got an antitrust fine in the amount of approx. EUR 25,000.
North Macedonia
Merger control
Six new merger notifications
During February, the North Macedonian NCA announced the receipt of six new merger notifications:
- United Media Sarl (Luxembourg) - REGIONAL, digitalni mediji d.o.o. (Slovenia), Tovarna sanj, medijska agencija, d.o.o. (Slovenia)
- Bugarskoto telekomunikacisko drushtvo EAD (Bulgaria) - NET1 EEOD (Bulgaria)
- Valtech S.E. (Luxembourg) - codeflair AG (Switzerland)
- Sitech Sitztechnik GmbH (Germany) – Sitech DongChang Automotive Seating Technology Ltd. (China)
- Assicurazioni Generali s.p.a. (Italy) – AXA Insurance SA (Greece)
- Sovremen Dom ad (North Macedonia), ZSF-KOM dooel (North Macedonia) – Skopski Pazar ad (North Macedonia)
Originally sent by e-mail. Original issue (mailchi.mp) · gajin.rs