August 2023 – Yesterday, 9 August 2023, the Ukrainian parliament adopted long-awaited amendments to the country's competition law (the "Amendments"), which is the first step towards an extensive overhaul of Ukraine's antitrust and merger control rules. The Amendments are pending the signature of the president and are expected to come into force on 1 January 2024 (except for certain provisions, which will take effect after the cancellation of martial law).
Although the final text of the Amendments is not yet available, it has been reported that the key changes are aimed at: i) the implementation of additional antitrust rules to boost the leniency program in Ukraine, ii) the introduction of the concept of the infringer's joint and solidary responsibility, iii) the introduction of the possibility of a settlement agreement with the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (the "AMC"), and iv) setting certain time limits for the AMC's investigations. It is also anticipated that merger control and joint-venture arrangements will be subject to certain changes (e.g., the seller or the party that ceases to exercise control over the target may be excluded from threshold calculations).
We will keep you advised of further developments. In case of any questions, please contact our experts in competition law.
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