SERBIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Uroš Popović and Tina Petrić, Drašković Popović & Partners
Concentrations in 2025/2026 In 2025, the Commission received a total of 240 merg - er notifications, out of which 209 notifications were submitted in abbreviated form in accordance with the Regulation on the Content and Manner of Submitting the Notification on Concentration (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No 5/2016), accounting for 87% of the total number of merger notifications. Compared to this figure, 52 cases were carried over from 2024. The Commission has initiated two ex officio proceed - ings in the case of concentrations that were carried out without the prior approval of the Commission. Out of the total number of submitted notifications, 157 (65%) were filed by foreign legal and natural per - sons, while the remaining 83 (35%) were submitted by domestic legal and natural persons registered and operating in the territory of the Republic of Serbia. Concerning the economic sectors to which the reported mergers pertain and based on the defined relevant market, the energy and mining sector stands out with a total of 33 notifications, followed by the telecommunication sector with 25 notifications, the food industry with 18 notifications, the pharmaceutical sector with 18 notifications, real estate sector with 16 notifications, the construction industry and construc - tion materials with 15 notifications, the IT sector with 14 notifications, banking and finance with 12 notifica - tions, and the agriculture and livestock sector with 11 notifications. Additionally, a significant number of notifications were submitted in areas such as automotive industry, man - ufacturing industry, healthcare, media, transportation of people and baggage (bus, railway, taxi, airplane transportation), and others. The majority of issued approvals, of the total number of issued approvals for mergers in the summary pro - ceedings, relate to cases involving the acquisition of control over another market participant or part thereof (79.2%). In cases of joint investments by two or more market participants or the acquisition of joint control over another participant, 50 approvals were issued (20.8%).
The high number of reported concentrations is largely due to the exceptionally low notification thresholds for merger control set by Serbian law, significantly lower than those established under relevant EU regulations. Namely, the merger notification thresholds were estab - lished back in 2009 and have not been revised to this day. As a result, many transactions that are unlikely to have any meaningful impact on competition in the Serbian market are still subject to regulatory review. This not only places an unnecessary administrative burden on businesses but also functions, in effect, as a cost or barrier to doing business. In practice, these low thresholds often lead to the examination of merg - ers that pose little or no threat to market competition. On the other hand, the Commission has consistently demonstrated diligence in monitoring the develop - ment of key economic sectors. In 2025, it published the Sectoral Analysis of the State and Conditions of Competition in the Market of Private Healthcare Services in Certain Types of Healthcare Institutions for the period 2019–2023 (Sectoral Analy - sis of Private Healthcare Services) and announced its intention to conduct a Sectoral Analysis of the Phar - maceutical Sector, as well as Sectoral Analysis of the State and Conditions of Competition in the Market of Certain Food Products and Sectoral Analysis of the State and Conditions of Competition in the Market of Production and Distribution of Bottled Water. The Sectoral Analysis of Private Healthcare Services provides a comprehensive overview of the sector and serves as an important source of official information to guide the Commission’s future decisions, not only in merger control cases but also in potential competition infringement proceedings within the sector. The Commission concluded that the market for volun - tary health insurance is highly concentrated, with the four largest market participants holding an 84% mar - ket share. At the same time, the analysis states that competitive conditions in the market remain favour - able. There are no significant barriers to entry in either the market for private healthcare institutions or the market for voluntary health insurance that could harm competition.
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