On 22 February, 2023 in the online mode the closing meeting of the Twinning project for the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (hereinafter – AMCU) “Support to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine in further approximation of legal, procedural and case enforcement practices with EU antitrust and merger control practices” (hereinafter – Project) took place.
The Project was implemented by the AMCU jointly with antitrust authorities of the consortium of European Union Member States, namely Lithuania, Romania and Germany.
The aim of the Project is to increase the effectiveness, transparency and consistency of the antitrust policy in Ukraine on the basis of closer alignment of national antitrust legislation to the legislation of EU Member States in accordance with the requirements of the Association Agreement between European Union and Ukraine.
In welcoming speech, Olga Pishchanska, BC Project Leader, expressed her gratitude to the European side for effective cooperation within the Project implementation. At the same time, Project Leader noted the thorough preparation of draft Law No. 5431, which is currently being considered in the second reading. In her speech, Olga Pishchanska emphasized an important component of the Project implementation, namely, strengthening team building among the AMCU employees and sharing experience, in particular by organizing lectures on the European legislation implementation for university students. “Project has become a significant contribution and consistent continuation of the antitrust reform in Ukraine”, – said the Project Leader.
In turn, Panagiotis Stamoulis, representative of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine, expressed the words of support and gratitude to the Project partners, in particular, emphasizing the success of the Project results due to fruitful cooperation during its implementation.
At the same time, Nadiia Bihun,Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, thanked foreign partners and representatives of the AMCU for the opportunity to effectively cooperate in the implementation of antitrust policy. Also, Nadiia Bihun noted that the exchange of best practices between the Project partners will contribute to the further recovery of Ukraine’s economy through the implementation of European standards and market development.
Roxolana Pidlasa,Head of the Budget Committee, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, in her speech underlined the strategic importance of this Project and emphasized that despite the necessity of implementing a number of priority measures and following the recommendations for further steps developed during the Project implementation, the Draft Law No. 5431 is important for the implementation of the antimonopoly reform.
Furthermore, Šarūnas Keserauskas, RTA, expressed gratitude to the Project partners for their high professionalism and coordinated cooperation aimed at achieving the mandatory results.
The speeches were also delivered by Šarūnas Keserauskas, MS Project leader, Konrad Ost and Cosmin Belacurencu,MS Project Co-leaders, as well as the Project Component Leaders of the AMCU.
On behalf of the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union Olena Honcharuk, Senior Consultant of the Twinning Coordination Division of the Unit of Twinning Programme Administration Office activities ensuring took part in the meeting.
For reference: according to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ukraine “On Approval of the Procedure for Initiation, Preparation and Implementation of the Twinning Projects” as of 11 October, 2016 No 700 the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service coordinates the implementation of the institution building instrument of the European Union Twinning in Ukraine. Furthermore, in accordance with relevant legal acts the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service is the coordinator of institution building instrument TAIEX implementation in Ukraine. In order to provide effective coordination of Twinning and TAIEX the Twinning Program Administration Office in Ukraine was established, its functions are performed by the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union.
