Lithuanian antitrust experts shared their experience with Ukrainian colleagues

Approaches and methods of the Competition authority of Lithuania in the field of merger control, experience of interagency cooperation and information exchange, conducting inspections, investigating abuses of a dominant position, specifics of handling cases and guaranteeing the independence of the competition authority are the main topics of the weekly training, which was conducted for specialists of the Interregional Territorial Offices of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine by colleagues from Vilnius (Lithuania).

As part of the business trip, the experts of the AMCU got acquainted with the practice of the Competition Council of Lithuania, the Vilnius District Administrative Court and the Lithuanian Communications Regulatory Authority.

In particular, the training covered the circumstances under which companies are required to report on mergers and what information they should submit, as well as the consequences of not submitting it. During the section on interagency cooperation, the Lithuanian colleagues talked about how they exchange information with other authorities regarding public procurement and how it allows to speed up investigations.

Also, colleagues from the Competition Policy Group, who shared their department's experience in conducting inspections, spoke about how the Competition Council receives information about alleged collusions and in which case violators can be exempted from fines or their reduction. During training, it was also discussed the problems of analyzing excessive pricing in the monopolized markets of Lithuania, methods of ensuring competition in the fields of electronic and postal communication, as well as - what regulatory problems arise during the supervision of the railway sector.

Speaking to the participants of the training, the Chair of the Competition Council of Lithuania, Šarunas Keserauskas, noted that he was impressed by the way Ukrainians not only performed their work during the war, but also improved by studying the experience of EU countries in order to use it in the future to enhance the legal system of Ukraine.

“We know what path you can take as a country, as fighters, as AMCU employees, now it's our turn to show our path in Lithuania, in the EU and in the world in general”, said Šarunas Keserauskas.

The study visit took place within the framework of the EU Twinning project, which is implemented by the Competition Council of Lithuania, the Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy of Germany together with the Federal Cartel Administration (Bundeskartellamt), as well as the Competition Council of Romania. The goal of the project is the further approximation of Ukrainian legislation to EU practices, as well as the exchange of the most relevant practices regarding the application of antimonopoly legislation, merger control and competition advocacy.