As informed before, the new Chairman of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (the AMC) and the new team of State Commissioners of the AMC were appointed not so long ago. Already today, one can observe the results of the new team at work:

IMPORTANT INNOVATION – AMNESTY

Just earlier today, the Chairman of the AMC on his Facebook page announced that the AMC is ready to offer an amnesty for the transactions that were completed without the approval for the concentration of the AMC when such approval was necessary. Later today, the AMC shared on its official website a draft regulation disclosing key principle and methodology of imposing fines, for public discussion. The regulation amongst other includes provides for “amnesty” to those undertakings that approach the AMC within the next year disclosing their past violations.

CLARITY IN IMPOSING REMEDIES

As mentioned above, the AMC just published a draft regulation disclosing key principle and methodology of imposing fines by the AMC, for public discussion. Its main point is to determine the base fine amount depending on the severity of violation, in per cent from income obtained in connection with such a violation. The proposed approach completely differs from the existing one, according to which the AMC was fully entitled set the amount of the fine from EUR 1 to the theoretical maximum. The document is expected to bring predictability and understanding for the business in terms of imposing sanctions by the AMC.

OPENNESS TO BUSINESS – PUBLICATION OF DECISIONS

To secure transparency of the AMC activity, the regulator has launched the procedure of publishing the decisions adopted by the AMC with proper treatment of the confidential information as defined by the involved undertakings.

OUTLINING DEADLINES FOR THE MERGER CASES

The AMC plans to set a limit of 180 days for the review of the merger transaction counting from the very first notification to the AMC. Today, the law provides the AMC with authority to extend the review of the transaction for as much as the regulator deems it necessary.

Read more>