On Changes in Business Regulation in May-June

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LEGAL ACTS

KEY CHANGES

1.       

Regulation on identifying and recognizing the dominant position or superior bargaining power

of a business entity or group of entities within commodity or financial market.

Antimonopoly authority, when analyzing the competitive environment in a commodity or financial market, shall use the following sources of information:

·         official statistics;

·         goods production, sales, and trade volume;

·         realization price and volumes of goods;

·         list of enterprises producing and selling goods;

·         copies of contracts related to the business entity’s business activities;

·         copies of contracts concluded for the sale of goods;

·         technical documents on goods.

2.       

Regulation on identifying actions of digital platform operators that lead to the recognition of bargaining power and (or) discrimination of the rights and legitimate interests of consumers and other business entities[Please note that the term “digital platforms” is very broad and, among others, includes marketplaces, social media sites, online search engines, online maps, news aggregators, web browsers, online payment systems, etc.].

In order to recognize the dominant position of a digital platform operator, the Antimonopoly authority’s analysis shall determine:

·      digital space boundaries;

·      digital platform operators operating within the digital space boundaries;

·      the amount of the digital platform operator’s annual income;

·      the presence of direct and indirect network effects;

·      the possibility of simultaneous use of different digital platforms by users and the cost of switching between them;

·      access to user data that affect or may affect the competitive environment of the digital platform operator.

A digital platform operator that does not hold a dominant position shall be recognized as having superior bargaining power in the following cases:

·      no other digital platform offers a similar service to users;

·      another platform offers an alternative service, but it is hard to use;

·      the possibility of using different digital platforms at the same time is limited;

·      the digital platform operator can unilaterally influence factors like prices, quality, and service territory.

3.       

Regulation on the procedure for recognizing business entities as

subjects of natural monopoly

A business entity or a group of entities whose main activity is in the following areas shall be recognized as a natural monopoly entity:

·      transportation of oil, oil products by pipeline transport;

·      transportation and distribution of gas through pipelines;

·      transportation and distribution of electricity and heat energy;

·      state railway infrastructure services;

·      drinking water supply and sewerage services;

·      aviation and airport services.

4.       

Regulation on determining anticompetitive agreements and coordinated actions

The following are the hallmarks of anticompetitive agreements and co-operative actions, as well as coordination of economic activities:

·      artificially changing supply volumes through unjustified production cuts or investment restrictions;

·      agreeing to artificially increase or decrease prices;

·      applying similar price lists or orders (minutes, instruction) approving the price;

·      setting production or sales quotas except for cases provided for by legislative acts;

·      coordinated price changes (simultaneous or consecutive) without economic justification;

·      establishing uniform prices despite differing costs; 

·      revaluating residual (remaining) goods to ensure uniform prices on the market;

·      coordinating discounts, surcharges, or markups;

·      orchestrating reduction or cessation of product supply to create artificial shortages and drive up prices during high demand periods;

·      maintaining high prices or price components across suppliers;

·      unjustified refusal to contract with certain buyers or sellers;

·      dividing markets by region, volume, or customer base;

·      bid rigging in tenders;

·      submitting identical bids from different addresses;

·      participation of interested parties in bidding processes;

·      single person submitting bids for multiple unrelated entities;

·      instructing bidders on participation or pricing in tenders;

·      directing entities to restrict economic activities in certain areas.

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STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES

EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS

1.       

“Uzmetkombinat” JSC

right to collect ferrous metal scrap and waste nationwide.

2.       

“Uzvtorcvetmet” JSC

right to collect and export non-ferrous metal scrap and waste

3.       

“Uztrade” JSC

right to export flour, wheat, and small business products without bank guarantees or insurance.

4.       

“Uzkimyoimpeks” LLC

sole agency for exporting “Uzkimyosanoat” JSC’s chemical products and importing their production needs.

5.       

“UzGasTrade” JSC

right to purchase centrally through imports from external sources of natural gas;

6.       

“UZenergosotish” JSC

right to carry out centralized export and import of electric energy.