MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS OF APDC IMPROVE TRANSACTIONS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE LAW

Chairman of the agency for protection and development of competition of the Republic of Kazakhstan Marat Omarov took part in the 13th Kazakhstan Legal Forum.

More than 300 participants gathered at the Kazakhstan Legal Forum 2023 this year. The purpose of the forum is to create the best platform for the exchange of experience between lawyers in Central Asia, networking, discussion of problems and solutions with leading experts in the industry and representatives of the public sector.

Speaking as a speaker at the forum in the section" mergers and acquisitions market", the head of the APDC Marat Omarov spoke about the agency's work in this direction. In order to prevent the emergence of a monopoly situation and (or) restriction of competition, the WKDA regulates economic concentration.

Economic concentration is an important tool for measuring the mergers and acquisitions market, as it helps to identify and assess potential problems of competition and monopolization, which is important to ensure a fair and effective market function.

To date, the APDC function for considering applications for consent to economic concentration is a public service provided free of charge to legal entities and individuals.

Transactions on economic concentration can occur in different commodity markets. The popularity of such transactions is due to current economic conditions and trends. The markets where economic concentration transactions are most often conducted are: the oil and gas market, the renewable energy market, the financial market, the information technology market.

"This year, the agency considered 63 applications, of which 35 were given consent, 2 transactions were suspended due to withdrawal, 4 transactions were not required for the consent of the antimonopoly authority. As for the refusal, if we see that the transaction restricts competition, then such a transaction is prohibited. However, there are not many such cases in the practice of the antimonopoly authority. This is usually one or two cases a year," Marat Omarov said.

In order to ensure the quality and accessibility of public services, the agency, together with JSC "National Information Technologies", carried out work on digitalization of the service. This service is now available only in online format - https://elicense.kz/. the service recipient can apply for consent in electronic form by a letter of application, which eliminates the circulation of paper documents.

Also, in order to ensure monitoring and control over compliance with the terms of transactions on economic concentration, the APDC approved a list of trusted persons, which included experts from various sectors of the economy.

"Inclusion in the list of trusted persons will improve the efficiency and control over compliance with the terms of transactions on economic concentration. This approach helps to ensure independence and professionalism in the implementation of decisions of the antimonopoly authority and contributes to constructive interaction with business," Marat Omarov said.

In conclusion, Marat Omarov noted the importance of developing and strengthening competitive relations in the economy of Kazakhstan. He noted that the APDC will continue to work on ensuring open competition for antitrust action, as well as creating a fair and transparent business environment in the country.