The currently applicable Law on Protection of Competition of Serbia was enacted in 2009 and amended in 2013. The competent authority for competition law enforcement in Serbia is – the Commission for Protection of Competition, which has the decision-making body – the Council, and the expert departments with the main units being the Merger Control Unit, the Antitrust Unit, the Legal Department, and the Economic Analysis Department.
The Council of the Commission has five members, all of them being appointed by the National Assembly of Serbia, with the five-year mandate. The President of the Commission is a member of the Commission's Council.
Merger Control Thresholds
With respect to the merger control regime, the merger filings in Serbia are mandatory in case any of the two following merger control thresholds has been met:
- The combined worldwide revenues of all the parties exceed 100 million Euro in the previous year, while at least one party had the annual revenues on the Serbian market that exceed 10 million Euro, or
- The combined revenues generated on the Serbian market of all the parties exceed 20 million Euro in the previous year, while each of at least two parties had revenues on the Serbian market in excess of one million Euro.
Filing Deadlines and Review Periods
Serbia has the merger filing deadline which is 15 calendar days as of signing of a binding transaction agreement, announcement of a public bid, or acquisition of controlling interest, whichever happens first. In case of failure to notify the merger filing within the filing deadline, the Serbian competition authority may impose a fine in range from 500 Euro to 5,000 Euro for each day of late filing.
The review period in case of the summary proceedings is one month as of complete merger notification, while in case of the in-depth proceedings the review period is four months as of commencement of the in- depth proceedings.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
In case of failure to notify a notifiable concentration or in case of closing of a concentration prior to receiving the merger clearance, the Serbian competition authority may impose a fine up to 10% of the responsible party's revenues generated on the Serbian market in the previous year. In addition to the fine, the Serbian competition authority may order de-concentration, i.e. unwinding of the transaction which should lead to restitution of the status in the market prior to implementation of a concentration (it nonetheless appears that no de-concentration has been imposed so far).
Individual Exemptions Regime
Besides merger control regime, Serbia has individual exemptions regime with respect to the restrictive agreements. In case the market share on the relevant market of any party to the restrictive agreement exceeds 25% - the parties are required to notify such an agreement with the Commission for Protection of Competition. There is no filing deadline with respect to the individual exemptions.
The Commission may grant the individual exemption for a period up to eight years, which can be prolonged for an additional period of eight years.
In case of entering into a restrictive agreement which has not been individually exempted by the Commission, the Commission may impose a fine up to 10% of the party's revenues generated on the Serbian market in the previous year.