LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

of July 25, 2023 No. 199

About modification of the Competition act No. 183/2012

The Parliament adopts this organic law.

Art. I. - In the Competition act No. 183/2012 (Official monitor of the Republic of Moldova, 2012, Art. No. 193-197, 667), with subsequent changes, to make the following changes:

1. In all text of the law "association" to replace the word with the word "association" in the corresponding number and case.

2. To state formula of harmonization in the following edition:

"This law shifts provisions of articles 101-106 of the Agreement on functioning of the European Union of March 25, 1957, partially - provisions of the Directive (EU) of 2019/1 European parliament and Council of December 11, 2018 about provision to authorities of EU member states, competent in the field of the competition, means for increase in their efficiency in case of application of the law and on guaranteeing proper functioning of the domestic market published in the Official magazine of the European Union by L 11 of January 14, 2019 shifts provisions of Regulations (EU) No. 1/2003 of Council of December 16, 2002 about application of the competition rules provided by articles 81 and 82 of the Agreement published in the Official magazine of the European Union by L 001 of January 4, 2003 and the Regulations (EU) No. 139/2004 of Council of the January 20, 2004 about control over economic concentration of the companies published in the Official magazine of the European Union by L 024 of January 29, 2004. ".

3. Add Article 3 with parts (6) - (8) the following content:

"(6) When implementing of the powers conferred to it by this law including powers on investigation, the Competition council provides respect for the general principles of the right of the European Union in questions of the competition and the Convention on human rights protection and fundamental freedoms.

(7) Application of this law is performed taking into account applicable law of European Court and other interpreting documents of institutes of the European Union.

(8) If term is not established by this law, procedures of consideration of cases of violation of the law about the competition are performed by Competition council in reasonable time.".

4. Article 4-9 to state in the following edition:

"Article 4. Basic concepts

For the purposes of this law the following concepts used in the field of the competition mean:

the agreement - any (oral or written) form of expression of the general will concerning behavior in the market shown by two or more independent companies;

the horizontal agreement - the agreement or coordinated actions realized between two or several independent companies functioning at the same level (the same levels) of the market;

the vertical agreement - the approved agreements or actions, agreed between two or several independent companies, each of which acts according to the agreement or coordinated actions on different levels of production or distributor chain, the parties concerning conditions, on which can buy, sell or resell certain products;

economic activity - any activities consisting in product offering in certain market;

merging of the companies - the consolidation in any form which does not have or aiming at profit earning which two or several companies irrespective of their form of business, type of financing, procedure for decision making, obligation or non-obligation of these decisions, and also publicity of the functions which are carried out by consolidation enter voluntarily;

permission - action which the Competition council resolves the applicant realization of its intention on economic concentration or on provision of government assistance by issue of the allowing document in the form of the decision;

shipping conference - the agreements or actions approved between two or several competitors, pursuing the purpose approval of their competitive behavior in the market or rendering influence on significant parameters of the competition by means of the actions including establishment or approval of purchase prices or sale or other trade conditions including in connection with intellectual property rights, allocation of quotas for production or sale, the Section of the markets and clients, manipulation bidding procedures, restriction of import or export or the anti-competitive actions directed against other competitors;

the statement for indulgence - voluntary oral or written informing Competition council by the company or physical person or from their name, or the record of such informing, the representing statement of the data which are available for this company or physical person about shipping conference and about role in it of the company or physical person prepared especially for transfer to body in the field of the competition to the purpose of receipt of immunity from penalties or decrease in penalties within indulgence policy not including proofs which exist irrespective of procedures of application of the law and irrespective of whether there is such information (earlier existing information) in Competition council;

total turnover - total cost of sales of the products realized by the company during the accounting period including at world level. The total turnover is equated:

a) for the banks, organizations granting loans - to the amount of the income on percent and the amount of the income which are not relating to percent;

b) for the insurance companies - to total cost added gross - awards, including reinsurance awards;

economic concentration - the transactions leading to long-term changes concerning control over the involved companies and thereof to change of structure of the market;

the competitor - the independent company operating in the corresponding market;

the potential competitor - the independent company which is not operating in the corresponding market, but in case of permanent growth of relative prices by 10 percent will probably perform necessary additional investments or will make other costs for transformation for occurrence on the corresponding market in time constituting no more than 3 years;

the competition - the existing or potential economic rivalry between two or several independent companies in the corresponding market when their actions actually limit possibilities of each of them on unilateral influence on the main conditions of goods turnover in the corresponding market, is stimulated by scientific and technical progress and growth of welfare of consumers;

unfair competition - any action performed by the companies in the course of the competition, contradicting the commonly accepted fair practice of economic activity;

the consumer - the direct or indirect user of products, including the producer using products for conversion, the wholesale seller, the retail seller or the final consumer;

control - opportunity to exert on certain company decisive impact, following from the following rights, agreements or any other means, separately or in combination, taking into account the corresponding legal and actual circumstances, such as:

a) property rights to everything or part of assets of the company or use of them;

b) the rights or agreements which provide decisive influence on structure, voices or decisions of governing bodies of certain company.

Control is received by persons or the companies which are owners of the rights or beneficiaries of the rights based on the relevant agreements or which, without being owners of such rights or beneficiaries of the rights based on such agreements, nevertheless have opportunity to perform the rights following from them;

the solution of merging of the companies - any declaration of will expressed by merging of the companies or governing bodies of merging of the companies irrespective of form of expression, obligation or non-obligation;

exclusive rights - the rights granted by the state to certain company through body of the public power any the legislative, regulating or administrative act on rendering services or implementation of activities in this geographical zone;

the special rights - the rights granted by the state to limited number of the companies the legislative, regulating or administrative act limiting in this geographical zone to two or more number of the companies, it is authorized to them to render certain service or to perform certain activities, or appointing several competitor companies as got permission to rendering certain service or to implementation of certain activities, or to providing any company (any companies) any legal or regulating benefits significantly influencing capability of any other company to render the same service or to perform the same activities in the same geographical zone on almost equivalent conditions;

group of companies - the company exercising control together with all companies which it directly or indirectly controls;

decisive influence - capability to determine strategic and tactical behavior of the company;

immunity from penalties - release from penalties which are usually imposed on the company for its participation in the agreement, with the purpose to reward it for cooperation with body in the field of the competition within indulgence policy;

the company - any subject performing economic activity irrespective of its legal status and method of financing;

the independent company - any company which can consist of several legally created subjects or physical persons, determining own business policy irrespective of other companies;

the company having nature of tax monopoly - the company which was granted exclusive rights on carrying out special activities for the purpose of income acquisition for the state;

dependent enterprises - the companies which belong to the same group of companies or are controlled by the same person or the same persons;

the legislation on the competition - this law, the Law on government assistance No. 139/2012 and other regulations adopted in pursuance of the specified laws;

the notification - the statement to Competition council for permission of intention to perform transaction on economic concentration or about provision of government assistance;

the corresponding geographical market - zone with the companies involved in the supply and demand in the corresponding market of product in which conditions of the competition are rather homogeneous and which can differ from the next geographical zones due to significant differences in the conditions of the competition;

the corresponding market - the market within which it is necessary to estimate specific problem of the competition, determined by correlation of the corresponding market of product with the corresponding geographical market;

the corresponding market of product - the market of products which are considered by consumers as interchanged or replaced by other products thanks to their application, physical and functional characteristics and the price;

the policy of indulgence - the tool for application of Article 5, based on which the member of shipping conference irrespective of other companies participating in the agreement cooperates within the investigation made by Competition council voluntarily providing information on shipping conference and the role which is available for it as a part of shipping conference and receiving in exchange the immunity provided by the decision from penalties or decrease in penalties which shall be applied to it for its participation in shipping conference;

dominant position in the market - the provision caused by economic power of the company which allows it to interfere with maintenance of workable competition in the corresponding market, giving it the chance to be effective substantially irrespective of competitors, the clients and eventually from consumers;

anti-competitive activities - the anti-competitive agreement prohibited by the law, the solution of merging of the companies, coordinated actions, abuse of dominant position, the actions or failure to act of bodies of the public power limiting the competition;

coordinated actions - form of coordination of actions between the independent companies and/or independent groups of the companies by means of which practical cooperation of these companies, without the conclusion of the agreement between them as such, intentionally competitive risks substitute for themselves;

Disclaimer! This text was translated by AI translator and is not a valid juridical document. No warranty. No claim. More info