OUR SPECIALIZATION

Transactions with shares, property (including rent), as well as reorganization often require the prior consent of the competition authority. Many are unaware of this and run the risk of invalidating such transactions and actions. Some entities try to agree on their own and spend a lot of time and effort, because the approval procedure has many nuances and often you have to submit documents several times.

Having significant experience, we offer the fastest and most effective solutions.

SP&P offers full support for antitrust filing, including:

• determination of the need to obtain the consent of MART;
• preparation of a full set of documents for obtaining the consent of MART;
• submission of an application for consent and support of the application within its consideration in MART (including the provision of explanations, clarifying documents).

Do you want to file an application to MART for non-competitive actions on the market? Are competitors committing fraud against you? Have you identified non-competitive behavior during procurement? Have you been receiving requests from MART concerning the investigation? What to do with the warning note received from the MART?

Anyone may need legal assistance: both the victim who wants to file an application to MART to start the investigation, and the entity against whom MART is conducting an investigation. The speed of the investigation and the MART approaches to the matter largely depend on a well-written application. Similarly, a written objection to the application will allow you to show the real picture and market situation and to protect your interests. At the same time, your participation in the case is not limited with the preparation of the application or objection – constant support of the case is necessary. This will allow you to timely respond to the investigation (provide additional explanations, adjust the position) and ensure maximum protection of your interests.

We provide support at all stages of antitrust investigations, in particular:

• prepare applications on violation of antitrust laws, objections to such applications;
• we support Clients in the framework of antitrust investigation. Support includes analysis of case materials and preparation of position based on them, preparation of applications, communication with competition authority, participation in meetings with MART and the other party, organization of specialist research (product market analysis, sociological, technical, patent and other studies);
• we support Clients during antitrust checks conducted under Edict No. 510 against them.

The MART’s decision may not be in your favor. But it is not final and can be canceled by a court. Although it is generally accepted that it is difficult to win a case against the competition authority in a court, attorneys at law with whom we cooperate have such experience.

In addition to appealing the MART’s decisions in court, attorneys at law with whom we cooperate also represent the interests of Clients in cases of:

• violation of antitrust laws when applying directly to a court (often such a strategy is chosen in cases of unfair competition);
• recovery of losses caused by an antitrust violation;
• invalidation of all or part of agreements that do not comply with antitrust laws;
• compulsion to conclude an agreement, amendment or termination of an agreement by a dominant;
• compulsion to execute decisions and (or) prescriptions of MART;
• recognition of the procurement of goods invalid.

The Code of Administrative Offenses provides a fine for violating antitrust laws up to 10% of annual revenue. Moreover, even if there is a fact of antitrust violation established by MART, the administrative offense does not always exist.

SP&P’s specialists are well acquainted with this category of administrative cases and are ready to provide a Client with full support, including:

• assisting a Client in compiling a protocol on an administrative offense, a survey, other procedural actions;
• preparation of a position for consideration of an administrative case in a court;
• representation of the interests of the Client in a court (by the attorneys at law with whom we cooperate);
• appeal of a court decision in an administrative case.

Recently, Clients are increasingly trying to identify possible signs in their activities and to prevent violations of antitrust laws before MART finds them. This tendency is due to both serious risks (negotiable fines, invalidity of contracts, reputational risks) and the active behavior of the competition authority in all markets.

However, there are many practical nuances behind antitrust rules, without which it is often difficult to identify all antitrust risks.

To help Clients solve this problem, SP&P has developed its own methodology for conducting antitrust audits based on many years of experience in antitrust consulting, examination of contracts and other documents, as well as recent experience in auditing major market players.

Antitrust audit is a comprehensive solution that affects all areas of the Client’s activity – from the analysis of contractual relations with counterparties to interaction with competitors, entities within their group of companies and economic concentration. Moreover, in each case, the scope of the antitrust audit is separately agreed with the Client in order to take into account all needs and the specifics of product markets.

Unlike antitrust audits aimed at identifying existing violations or their signs, compliance aims to prevent and deterrent future antitrust violations.

As part of the development of the antitrust compliance system of the company SP&P, among other things:

• develops a general Antitrust Compliance Policy;
• checks and adjusts existing internal documents and company procedures (policies, instructions, etc.);
• builds internal mechanisms of interaction within the company and continuous monitoring of the situation;
• prepares training programs and informing employees;
• conducts educational events for employees of the company on training in competitive behavior and implementation of antitrust compliance policies.

As practice shows, many antitrust violations could be avoided if employees had minimal knowledge of antitrust laws. If you understand that non-compliance with antitrust laws entails serious risks, but at this stage you are not ready to spend time and resources analyzing the issue and building complex systems, the best option would be to quickly familiarize the company’s management and employees with the basics of antitrust regulation.

To solve this problem, SP&P’s specialists have developed a course of antitrust educational program, within which you and your employees will be able to get the necessary set of knowledge in a few hours, which will allow you to build further work with lower antitrust risks.

The determination of a group of persons is a rather difficult task – rather complicated norms not only allow a double interpretation, but the practice of their application has its own peculiarities.

At the same time, it is absolutely necessary for a company of any size to clearly know its group of people – even a small company can be part of the group of people that dominates the market. And this means the extension to it of all the restrictions provided for in Article 18 of the Law on Counteraction to Monopolistic Activity and Competition Development, which is often overlooked. The result of such a mistake can be a negotiable fine up to 10% of annual revenue.

In order to prevent such negative consequences, SP&P’s specialists assist both in determining the group of persons and in explaining all the restrictions of the antitrust laws applicable to such a group.

In addition to the above legal assistance, SP&P’s specialists also provide various consultations on the compliance with antitrust laws. Most often, Clients seek advice on the following issues:

• check of draft agreements, contracts and other documents for compliance with the requirements of the Belarusian antitrust laws, including the admissibility of “exclusivity”, which is often found in distribution and agency agreements;
• analysis of the need to obtain the consent of the competition authority for economic concentration;
• assistance in building defense tactics against uncompetitive or any unfair actions of competitors and other market participants;
• adaptation of international company policies to the requirements of the Belarusian antitrust laws;
• advice on compliance with competition rules in the retail industry;
• advice on compliance with antitrust procurement requirements;
• assessment of planned activities and materials, including advertising and marketing, in terms of compliance with competitive standards.