INTEGRITES and the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine held the Legal Hub on “Trade Investigations vs Competition Protection: striking the balance”

On October 3, 2019, INTEGRITES together with the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine held a panel discussion devoted to trade investigations practice and instruments for competition protection for business in Ukraine.

The key topics for discussion were the following:

• the role of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (hereinafter – the AMCU) in conducting trade investigations;
• the mechanisms for the competition authority to affect the results of trade investigations in the EU and Ukraine;
• the existing contradictions between the anti-dumping and competition regulations.

The speakers of the event were the representatives from the Ukrainian state authorities, in particular, Natalia Sidoruk, Director of Department for trade defense of the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine, as well as Ihor Kustovsky, Director of the Department of investigations in industrial sector, retail and pharmaceutical markets at the AMCU. The event featured guest speakers, namely Vitaly Pruzhansky, Partner in RBB Economics (Brussels office), and Marius Bordalba, head of international trade department at USAID “Ukraine Trade Policy Project”.

Serhiy Shershun, counsel, Antitrust and Competition, at INTEGRITES, and Sergey Lakhno, counsel and head of International Trade at INTEGRITES, moderated the event. In their welcoming speech, they emphasized the relevance of the topic for business and strong connection between competition protection and anti-dumping investigations.

According to Sergey Lakhno, “trade restrictions do not create any boundaries for competition – on the contrary, they help to protect the national manufacturer by restoring fair competition through removing the influence of price dumping”.

“What can help strike the balance between the antidumping measures and competition protection is the active position of the business. The discussion between business and government should facilitate the search for balance and create conditions for effective competition. That is why I am sure that the timing for Legal Hub is perfect”, – emphasized Serhiy Shershun.