Bid rigging sanctions and cooperation with sector regulators: AMCU joined the meeting of the OECD Competition Committee

During the online participation of the representatives of the AMCU in the 2022 Global Forum on Competition of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) the following topics, namely the experience of the AMCU in detecting anticompetitive concerted practices in public procurement, sanctions against violators and their effectiveness, as well as the establishment of cooperation between competition authorities and sector regulators were discussed. The event was held in Paris these days.

In particular, during the discussion held at session on bidder’s exclusion and personal disqualification of officials responsible for bid rigging, Serhiy Shershun underlined that in Ukraine, in addition to fines, violators of the respective legislation are deprived of the right to participate in public procurement for three years.

According to him, this experience borrowed from European colleagues has proven to be effective, as being on the “black list” for offending companies is often a more effective “safeguard” against bid riggings than a fine.

Also, during the discussion on the cooperation between competition authorities and sector regulators, the experience of cooperation between the AMCU and the National Commission for State Regulation in the Energy and Utilities Sectors (NEURC) was presented. Constructive dialogue with colleagues allowed to significantly expand the AMCU's ability to identify possible violations in the market.

For example, the NEURC informed the AMCU regarding possible violations detected by the Regulator during the monitoring of the electricity market. In particular, in the period 2021-2022, the AMCU received more than ten appeals and applications of such kind. Cooperation with regulators in general is very important and will continue to be a key priority in the work of the AMCU, especially given the need for post-war market recovery in the country, the AMCU State Commissioner noted.

Summing up the discussion, colleagues, in particular from the US competition authority, commented positively on the work of the AMCU during martial law.

On November 28, Chair of the AMCU Olha Pishchanska and State Commissioner Serhiy Shershun joined the OECD Competition Committee working panel online.

The AMCU regularly participates in the events of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and carries out the work necessary to develop best practices in the field of competition. The AMCU experts also continuously submit written contributions for the meetings of the OECD Competition Committee. This year's developments were also related to competition in energy markets.