MOLDOVA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ina Jimbei, Efrim Rosca & Associates
At the same time, the increasing complexity of noti - fied transactions has not yet been accompanied by a corresponding development of economic analysis. Although recent investigations address increasingly sophisticated theories of harm – including buyer pow - er, vertical effects and potential foreclosure – merger assessments continue to rely predominantly on mar - ket shares, qualitative evidence and information col - lected from market participants. The use of advanced quantitative economic techniques remains relatively limited compared with the practice of the European Commission and national competition authorities in more mature jurisdictions. For businesses contemplating transactions in Moldo - va, these developments indicate that merger control can no longer be viewed as a purely procedural exer - cise. Transactions involving concentrated markets or strategically important sectors are increasingly likely to require extensive interaction with the Competition Council, detailed information requests and, where competition concerns arise, discussions regarding appropriate commitments capable of ensuring the transaction’s compatibility with the competitive envi - ronment. Cartel Enforcement: Numerous Bid-Rigging Cases and Several High-Impact Investigations Cartel enforcement in the Republic of Moldova is char - acterised by a significant number of cases concerning bid-rigging in public procurement procedures. Recent Competition Council practice includes investigations involving procurement procedures for construction and road works, solid fuel, telecommunications infra - structure and surveillance equipment. In many such cases, the authority found that bidders had exchanged commercially sensitive information, co-ordinated the content of their offers or predetermined the successful bidder, while the remaining offers served only to create the appearance of competition. Alongside procurement-related cases, several inves - tigations have stood out because of the economic importance of the markets concerned, the number or significance of the undertakings involved, the size of the fines and the level of public attention generated by the proceedings.
Among the most significant recent cases are the investigations concerning the retail market for petro - leum products and the bottled sunflower oil market. Both resulted in infringement decisions imposing substantial fines and are currently subject to judicial review. As in many jurisdictions, the adoption of the administrative decision has not marked the end of the enforcement process. Instead, the cases have entered what is likely to become a lengthy judicial phase, dur - ing which both the factual findings and the Competi - tion Council’s legal and economic assessment will be scrutinised by the courts. An earlier landmark investigation concerned the mar - ket for plant protection products and agricultural fer - tilisers. Although the administrative decision in that case was adopted several years ago, the litigation has continued through the courts for an extended period and illustrates the time required to obtain final judicial certainty in complex competition cases. Taken together, these investigations demonstrate that the Competition Council’s most significant cartel cas - es increasingly concern markets with broad economic relevance and require extensive factual and economic analysis. At the same time, they illustrate that effective cartel enforcement cannot be assessed solely by ref - erence to administrative decisions, as judicial review has become an integral and often lengthy stage of competition enforcement. Judicial Review: An Increasingly Important Stage of Competition Enforcement Judicial review has become an increasingly impor - tant component of competition law enforcement in Moldova. In practice, the adoption of an infringement decision by the Competition Council rarely marks the conclusion of a competition case. Instead, major deci - sions are frequently challenged before the administra - tive courts, where both procedural and substantive aspects of the authority’s assessment are subject to judicial scrutiny. The duration of judicial proceedings inevitably varies depending on the complexity of the case. However, several of the Competition Council’s most significant decisions remain pending before the courts for a number of years after their adoption. Recent infringe -
118 A NTITRUST LI T IGATI O N 2026
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