OREANDA-NEWS. July 24, 2013. Since 2005, under UNCTAD framework 22 countries have undergone the procedure of voluntary collective review of their antimonopoly law and policy. Discussions and recommendations focused on regulating industrial and economic policy, improving public procurement, cooperation between antimonopoly authorities and industry regulators, enforcement procedures, etc.

The 13th session of UNCTAD Inter-government Group of Experts on competition law and policy included a discussion of a voluntary peer review of the antimonopoly law and policy in Ukraine, that involved the authors of the peer review (Germany and the US) and representatives of the European Commission, OECD, UNCTAD, Japan, Russia, Brazil, Namibia and Salvador.

Deputy Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) Anatoly Golomolzin gave a high opinion of the expert review presented by Ukraine’s Antimonopoly Committee (UAC). He underlined long-standing productive bilateral cooperation between FAS and UAC, pointing out that UAC also is actively engaged in multilateral international efforts, being an active member of the Interstate Council on Antimonopoly Policy (ICAP). The issues of improving the antimonopoly law and enforcement practice have always been in the centre of such cooperation. Robust practical cooperation between FAS and UAC takes place under the framework of the Headquarters of the CIS member-states for joint investigations.

Anatoly Golomolzin also emphasized unique possibilities for competition advocacy by UAC since the Head of UAC is present at all sessions of the Cabinet of Ministers in an advisory capacity, and all draft documents introduced to the Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers are forwarded to UAC for preliminary evaluation. At the Q&A session, the Ukrainian delegation gave explanations to the Russian counterpart on the threshold values of the economic indicators used to control economic concentration and the plans to raise them. For instance, UAC has devised the draft law increasing the thresholds approximately threefold (from US \\$ 12 million to 30 million), which is currently under discussion in the Ukraine’s Parliament. UAC also indicated that the ratio of threshold values to GDP in Ukraine is lower than in the European Union.

Upon discussing the review, recommendations were issued and it was generally agreed that in view of the high level of developing the antimonopoly law and enforcement practice in Ukraine, the recommendations will further facilitate improving the efforts towards advancing competition in Ukraine.

Delegations of Serbia, Zimbabwe, Mongolia, Tanzania and Zambia reported on implementing UNCTAD recommendations to overall satisfactory results. For these countries both technical assistance and financial support of UNCTAD donor-states are important.