Dominance & Monopolies in Ukraine 2024

The Law of Ukraine on Protection of Economic Competition (the Competition Law) is the primary source of regulation of market dominance and its abuse in Ukraine. It also sets the general framework for investigations of competition law infringements and specifies sanctions applicable to violators.

The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) is the only body responsible for the prevention, investigation and punishment of abuse of dominance, and is the sole body empowered by the Competition Law to determine whether an undertaking holds a dominant position in the market. While exercising its powers, the AMCU may: (1) request undertakings, state bodies and private individuals to provide information of any type (including confidential information); (2) issue guidance on various competition law matters; and (3) conduct searches.

There is no formal guidance, as such, on competition compliance for undertakings, except for certain block exemptions and other internal acts of the AMCU, which mostly focus on concerted practices. There is also the Methodology for Determining the Monopoly (Dominant) Position of Undertakings in the Market (the Dominance Methodology), adopted by the AMCU in 2002, which remains in effect today. Based on criteria and rules provided in the Dominance Methodology, the AMCU can define whether an undertaking holds a dominant position in the market.

The Competition Law provides for equal treatment of both private and public undertakings, including state bodies and state-owned enterprises, which can be found to be in abuse of market power and brought to justice, accordingly.

There is a specific regime applicable to certain markets of significant state interest in Ukraine, in which natural monopolies exist. For instance, natural monopolies are present in the oil and gas transportation, centralised water supply and drainage markets. The main legislative act that governs natural monopolies is the Law of Ukraine on Natural Monopolies.