Kazakhstan to tighten antimonopoly control

Kazakhstan's Agency for the Protection and Development of Competition has drafted a package of legislative amendments aimed at strengthening antimonopoly enforcement and implementing recommendations from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

According to Report"s correspondent in Khankendi, the agency's Deputy Chairman Bolat Sambetov said at the 61st meeting of the CIS Interstate Council on Antimonopoly Policy that the package, which covers 23 OECD recommendations, envisages several major changes to the work of the antimonopoly authority.

"First, we plan to move towards stricter enforcement by extending the investigation period from three to nine months, with the possibility of a further three-month extension. This is necessary to build a solid body of evidence and conduct high-quality econometric analysis.

"Second, a mechanism for turnover-based fines will be introduced. Existing fixed fines have been deemed ineffective, prompting the drafting of amendments to set penalties at 0.5% of the offender's annual revenue," Sambetov said.

Third, the leniency programme is set to be overhauled. The new rules will guarantee full immunity to the first cartel participant to voluntarily report the infringement and acknowledge its involvement.

"Fourth, the notification system is being streamlined: the list of violations subject to ‘soft law" provisions will be narrowed, while the period during which repeat offences are recognised will be extended from one year to two. In addition, the agency"s long-term strategy includes a sixth antimonopoly package, a key component of which will be the development of rules for regulating digital platforms and determining whether digital platforms and major retail chains hold dominant positions," the deputy chairman added.