Competition Newsletter: November-December 2025

Antitrust

NCA investigates bid rigging

The Serbian competition authority has launched proceedings against three Serbian companies for suspected bid rigging. The suspicion involves collusion in public procurement procedures for Serbia’s incumbent electricity producer (EPS). The companies allegedly coordinated bids by submitting offers with cascading prices and intentional calculation errors. When only these companies participated, those with errors refused corrections, leaving the highest-priced bid as the only valid option. In cases with other bidders, the lowest-priced participant from the group accepted corrections to become the most favorable. All three companies offered identical goods from the same manufacturer, indicating a restrictive agreement (cartel). The investigation has also involved dawn raids in three different locations.

Merger control

13 new merger clearances

During November and December, the Montenegrin competition authority published 13 new merger clearances:

• Natural persons - Balkan Master Montenegro d.o.o. (Montenegro)
• HIFA OIL CG d.o.o. (Montenegro) - Gas station in Montenegro
• UNIJA HOLDING INTERNATIONAL d.o.o. (Slovenia) - EKONOMIK ACCOUNTANTS d.o.o. (Montenegro)
• HTL MONTENEGRO D.O.O. (Montenegro), PREMIUM BUSINESS MONTENEGRO d.o.o. (Montenegro), FIVE ASSET HOLDINGS d.o.o. (Montenegro), natural person [JV]
• Telekom Srbija AD (Serbia) - TTTV ELEKTRO KDS DOO (Serbia)
• Telekom Srbija AD (Serbia) - KATV DOO ČOKA (Serbia)
• Bonafarm Zrt. (Hungary) - FrieslandCampina Romania Holding B.V. (Netherlands)
• ALFI d.o.o. (Slovenia), 17207646 CANADA INC (Canada) - ALFI M1 d.o.o. (Slovenia)
• 4iG SDT EGY Zrt. (Hungary) - Rába Járműipari Holding Nyrt. (Hungary)
• GALENIKA A.D. (Serbia) - Sanofarm d.o.o. (Slovenia)
• Fortuna Entertainment Group International s.r.o. (Czechia) - LOB COMMPANY DOO (Montenegro)
• Orbico Sportstyle S.r.l. (Italy) - DOCKERS [assets]
• ČEZ, a. s. (Czechia), British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (Canada) - Gas Distribution s.r.o. (Czechia)

Merger control

One clearance with fine for late filing

The Bosnian NCA has cleared a transaction on the market for the sale of passenger cars and light vehicles, with Farex d.o.o. Tešanj as the acquirer and Hercegovina auto a.d. Mostar as the target. While it cleared the transaction, the NCA also fined the acquirer approximately ten thousand euros, for late filing. As a reminder, the Bosnian Competition Act prescribes that a notifiable concentration must be filed to the country's competition authority within 15 days of the signing of a binding transaction document, such as an SPA.

Antitrust

NCA uncovers two restrictive agreements, issues fines

The North Macedonian NCA has uncovered two major cases of anti-competitive conduct involving different sectors. In the first case, the NCA established that ten insurance companies operating in the mandatory motor vehicle liability insurance market exchanged sensitive information and coordinated pricing decisions to increase the overhead surcharge, constituting a “by object” restriction of competition. In the other case, the NCA established that four retail food companies and the Economic Chambers Union of Macedonia agreed to reject new or increased supplier price lists, replacing independent market behavior with coordinated action, in violation of the law. Both cases involved prohibited agreements that eliminated competition and are strictly banned without the need to prove market effects. As a result, the NCA imposed fines totaling approximately EUR 280,000 on the insurance companies, EUR 50,000 on each retail company, and EUR 18,500 on the Economic Chambers Union.

Antitrust

NCA fines food wholesalers for purchase price coordination

The Albanian NCA has completed an in-depth two-year investigation into practices in the wholesale fruit and vegetable market across the districts of Tirana, Elbasan, Berat, Fier, and Korçë. The NCA has found that a group of collecting enterprises coordinated purchase prices during seasonal periods, harming farmers and applying excessive mark-ups of up to 115%. The NCA qualified this as a restrictive agreement and imposed fines of up to 0.15% of the previous financial year’s turnover on the involved companies.