Communication
The aim of the protection of market competition is primarily to create benefits for consumers and equal conditions for all entrepreneurs on the market, who, acting in accordance with the existing rules and competing on the market with the quality, price and innovation of their products and services, contribute to the overall development of the economy.
Gemicro committments accepted
In the proceeding against the undertaking Gemicro the Croatian Competition Agency (CCA) accepted the committments made by Gemicro for the removal of anticompetitive effects and restoration of competition in the provision of specialised IT support to leasing companies, particularly involving implementation and maintenance of specialized business software necessary for the work of leasing companies in the territory of the Republic of Croatia. In addition, there have been strong indices that Gemicro holds a dominant position in this market.
The ex-officio proceeding against the undertaking Gemicro was opened upon the initiative of the undertaking Modulus informacijske tehnologije, co-owned by a former Gemicro employee, because that the contracts this undertaking concluded with leasing companies contained a provision preventing any undertaking that would hire former employees of Gemicro to compete with Gemicro in the businesses with leasing companies.
Soon after the CCA opened the proceeding Gemicro proposed to delete the provision concerned from all the concluded contracts with leasing companies, concretely, it committed itself to draw an annex to the contracts stating that this provision is being deleted from the framework agreement.
The CCA found the proposed committments sufficient to remove the anticompetitive effects and to restore competition in the relevant market. The committments were proposed at an early stage of the proceeding whereas all the leasing companies that are Gemicro’s buyers explicitly noted in their statements that they did not refuse to do business with other undertakings. The proposed committments were accepted also on the account of the fact that the provision concerned could not involve a lot of undertakings, given the fact that in the last five years Gemicro terminated the employment contracts for only three employees.
After Gemicro provided the CCA with evidence of the fulfilment of the committments concerned in the specified time period there have been no legal grounds to carry out the proceeding against this undertaking.