In Moldova, the Law on Competition will be improved and harmonized with EU directives in this area to increase competition in the market.
In particular, this is provided for by the relevant amendments to the Law on Competition, which were approved by the government at a meeting on Wednesday. As Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Digitalization Dumitru Alaiba noted, since the adoption of the Law on Competition in Moldova 10 years ago, the legislative framework has not changed much, and therefore now it is necessary to introduce the main provisions of the EU directives into the document. “With this step, we will significantly approach the EU legislation for the benefit of the citizens of Moldova,” he said. Dumitru Alaiba stressed that the main changes to the Law on Competition relate to changing the threshold for notification of economic concentration operations, the exercise of the right to protection, market shares, and other aspects. According to him, the bill was actively discussed with various business associations. “We found a common language, there were good consultations. The adoption of this bill, first of all, is in the interests of the Moldovan economy, in order to have clear rules on competition, so that the market functions on the principles of predictability and transparency, and in the interests of citizens who should have access to quality products and services at optimal prices, and this is one of the main goals of the government,” the vice-premier said. He urged the Competition Council to be more active in implementing these principles, primarily in building mutual trust between businesses and consumers. In turn, Prime Minister Dorin Recean emphasized that competition always leads to an increase in the quality of goods and services and a decrease in prices for them. As InfoMarket agency reported earlier, the amendments to the Law on Competition proposed earlier for public consultations provide that the turnover of companies obliged to notify the Competition Council of economic concentration will be increased in Moldova. According to the draft law, economic concentration operations will be subject to evaluation and brought to the attention of the Competition Council before their implementation, when the total turnover for the previous year exceeds 50 million lei, and there are at least 2 enterprises involved in operations, the total turnover of which individually in Moldova for the previous year exceeded 20 million each. Currently, these limits are 25 million lei and, accordingly, 10 million lei. These changes will remove the obligation to notify of economic concentration micro-enterprises, the annual turnover of which, according to the legislation, cannot exceed 18 million lei. It also provides for a 2-fold increase - up to 150 thousand lei - of the maximum fee for considering a notice of economic concentration, while its main amount will remain at the level of 0.1% of the total turnover realized jointly in the territory of Moldova by enterprises involved in economic concentration. Based on the experience of the EU countries, it is proposed to reduce the market share indicator from 50% to 40% when determining the dominant position of one or more enterprises. The amount of fines for violation of procedural norms and substantive norms of the Law on Competition will also be adjusted. The authors of the initiative propose to supplement and clarify the definitions of the law, including the introduction of the term "total global turnover" - the total value of sales of products sold by the enterprise during the reporting period, including at the global level. This indicator will be used to calculate the amount of fines for violations of the provisions of the Competition Law and the maximum level of fines for procedural violations. As reported, the Foreign Investors Association (FIA) and the American Chamber of Commerce in Moldova (Amcham Moldova) published a preliminary opinion on the amendments to the Law on Competition proposed by the authorities, noting that they consider it premature to introduce the following EU provisions into national legislation: violation of procedural rules (maximum 1%) and substantive norms (maximum 10%) of the Law on Competition; calculation of the base level of fines and penalties from the “total global turnover” (the total value of the company's sales in the reporting period, including at the global level); the possibility of holding parent companies liable for actions committed by their subsidiaries; bringing to responsibility the persons who took over the management of the enterprises for the actions that were committed by the persons from whom this control was taken. The FIA and Amcham also consider it premature to introduce into the Moldovan legislation an EU directive aimed at reducing the market share indicator from 50% to 40% when determining the dominant position of one or several enterprises. In addition, the FIA and Amcham drew attention to the short time frame given to align the bill with the business environment. // 12.04.2023 — InfoMarket.
