Today a meeting with the Second Secretary of the Indian Embassy in Minsk and Deputy Ambassador for Economic Activity Bhavika Mangalanandan was held at the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus.

Today the Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of Belarus Vladimir Koltovich met by videoconference with the President of the Hungarian Competition Authority Csaba Balázs Rigó with the participation of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Hungary Alexander Ponomarev and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Hungary to Belarus Zsolt Csutora.

Yesterday, Vladimir Koltovich, Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus, met with H.E. Velko Kovachevich, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Serbia to the Republic of Belarus.

11th June, Vladimir Koltovich, Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of Belarus, and Dr. Nevin Gamea, Minister of Trade and Industry of Egypt, the co-chairs of the Belarusian – Egyptian joint trade Commission had a meeting via videoconference.

The parties exchanged their views on up-to-date socio-economic situation in both countries, as well as discussed bilateral cooperation issues.

During the official visit of the President of the Republic of Belarus A.Lukashenko to the Arab Republic of Egypt, on the premises of multifunctional business centre «Al Masah Capital» in the new administrative capital the first meeting of the Belarusian-Egyptian business council in the format of a business forum took place.

On November 1, Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) started issuing free electronic digital signatures (EDS) for participation in exchange trades. Both Belarusian and foreign companies are eligible for receiving an EDS free of charge. This is supposed to make BUCE trading platforms more attractive to business entities at home and abroad and lower the threshold for entering the commodity market of Belarus.

The Program of the International Conference "Development of Competition in Industry Markets: Theoretical and Practical Aspects", which will be held on November 13-14, 2019 in Minsk, has undergone changes.

The updated Conference Program includes the plenary session "The main directions of development of competition in the Republic of Belarus and the world", as well as separate discussion sessions. 

In the Ministry of agriculture and food of the Republic of Belarus with participation of the representatives of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus was held a meeting of the Organizing Committee for the preparation and holding of the 25th international specialized exhibition "Prodexpo-2019".

By the invitation of the Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Koltovich, the delegation of the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People's Republic of China, headed by Deputy Chairman Ms. Gan Lin, visited the Republic of Belarus on September 23, 2019.

During the visit, negotiations on relevant issues of bilateral cooperation were held at the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade.

The Egyptian delegation led by First Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Head of the Egyptian Foreign Trade Service Ahmad Anter visited the Republic of Belarus from September 2 to September 5, 2019 to take part in the sixth meeting of the Belarusian-Egyptian Joint Trade Commission and the meeting of business circles of the two countries. The Egyptian delegation included representatives of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Military Industry, the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, the Egyptian Foreign Trade Service, the Agency for the Protection of Competition, the Agency for Industrial Development, the Center for Industrial Modernization, the Arab Industrialization Organization, and other Egyptian organizations and enterprises.

The International Conference "Development of Competition in Industry Markets: Theoretical and Practical Aspects"

On June 19, 2019, within the framework of the official visit of the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt A.F. Al-Sisi, the meeting of the co-chairs of the Belarusian-Egyptian Joint Trade Commission: Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Koltovich and Minister of Trade and Industry of the Arab Republic of Egypt Amr Nassar was held at the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade.

On June 7, 2019, in the framework of the XXII Belarusian-Polish Economic Forum “Good Neighborliness 2019”, the co-chairman of the Joint Belarusian-Polish Economic Cooperation Commission, the Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Koltovich has met with the Deputy Minister of Business and Technology Tadeusz Kostinski and First Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tadeush Ramanchuk.

On April 24, 2019 the Cooperation Agreement was signed between the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade (MART) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) within the framework of the Memorandum of understating between MART and IFC.

For reference: Since 2018, the Republic of Belarus has been implementing the current IFC Advisory program to improve the business environment with the support of the European Union and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). IFC provides advisory services to the Government to promote the development of the private sector in Belarus, including by strengthening market competition.

According to the Agreement, the preparation and implementation of the Competition Development Program in the Republic of Belarus (the Program) and Road maps for the development of competition in certain sectors of the economy are defined as the strategic direction of cooperation between MART and IFC. The purpose of the Program – the formation and development of a competitive environment and attracting investment, which ultimately will serve as an additional impetus for the sustainable development of the Republic of Belarus economy in the long term.

Implementing the measures stipulated by the Protocol of Intent between the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade (MART) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a visit of experts from the World Bank Group in the field of competition policy took place on March 19-21, 2019 to discuss ongoing teamwork on the preparation of the draft Program for the Development of Competition in the Republic of Belarus.

On March 12, 2019, a meeting of the Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Koltovich with the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia in the Republic of Belarus Armen Ghevondyan was held.

During the meeting, promising areas for the development of bilateral cooperation in various fields were discussed, the potential in increasing the Belarusian-Armenian trade was noted.

On February 27, 2019, a solemn ceremony of signing the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Belarus and the Government of the Russian Federation on cooperation in the protection of competition (hereinafter - the Agreement) was held at the Federal Antimonopoly Service (Moscow).

The purpose of the Agreement is to create a legal framework for the cooperation of the antimonopoly authorities of the two countries in identifying and preventing violations of antitrust laws, including from economic entities of third countries.

The XI session of the Intergovernmental Belarusian-Serbian Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, chaired by the Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Koltovich and State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Serbia Dragan Stevanovic, was held on January 31, 2019 in Minsk.

During the session, the sides discussed current issues of bilateral interaction in the fields of trade, investment, industry, agriculture, transport, tourism, scientific and technical cooperation. 

On December 6-7, 2018, representatives of MART headed by the Deputy Minister of Antimonopoly regulation and trade Ivan Vezhnovets took part in the IV International scientific and practical conference “Antimonopoly policy: science, practice and education”, which was held in Moscow at the innovation center “Skolkovo”.

The topical issues of competition in digital markets, approaches to the consideration of global transactions of economic concentration, the issues of effective tariff regulation, as well as the directions of improving the system of government procurement in modern conditions were discussed during the conference.

On 28-29 November, 2018, the fifth Meeting of the Belarusian-Egyptian Joint Trade Commission (the Commission) was held in Cairo under the chairmanship of the Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Koltovich and the Minister of Trade and Industry of the Arab Republic of Egypt Amr Nassar. During the Meeting of the Commission the parties discussed topical issues of bilateral cooperation in various fields: trade and investment, industry, agriculture, petrochemistry, transport, finance, communications and information technologies, wood processing, energy, science and research, education, environmental protection, sports and tourism, healthcare, culture.

Since January 2019, the Branch Laboratory of antimonopoly and price regulation, regulation in the field of trade (the Branch Laboratory), formed on the basis of the Belarusian State Economic University will start work. 

The Branch Laboratory is created for the purpose of carrying out scientific researches in the field of antimonopoly and price regulation and regulation in the field of trade, providing a strong scientific basis for decision-making on the most topical issues in these areas.

On November 26, 2018 the fifth Meeting of the Joint Belarusian-Polish Commission on Economic Cooperation (the Commission) was held in Warsaw under the chairmanship of Vladimir Koltovich, the Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus and Jadwiga Emilewicz, the Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology of the Republic of Poland. During the Meeting of the Commission the Parties discussed topical issues of bilateral cooperation in trade and investment spheres, as well as in agriculture, transport, finance, insurance, development of small and medium enterprises.

The Resolution of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus of November 19, 2018 No. 83 “On Approval of the Instruction on the Method of Calculating the Maximum Selling Prices of Producers for medicines” was adopted as part of the implementation of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of August 22, 2018 No. 345 "On Registration of Prices for Medicines".

The basis of the Instruction on the method of calculating the maximum selling prices of manufacturers for medicines (hereinafter referred to as the Instruction) is based on the principle of reference pricing. Thus, the document defines a list of countries for which information on the level of minimum selling prices for medicines is provided.

In accordance with the assigned functions, one of the key tasks of the MART as an antimonopoly agency is to counteract monopolistic activities and unfair competition, identify and prevent violations of the antimonopoly law, and promote the development of fair competition.

301 applications from economic entities were received by the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus for January -September, 2018 within the ongoing monitoring of the compliance with the antimonopoly law. 

The seminar "The Concept of Regulatory Impact Assessment and Competition Impact Assessment" was held in MART on November 9, 2018, during which key approaches to the regulatory impact assessment in the preparation of draft regulatory legal acts were discussed.

Olga Shcherbina, the Head of the IFC in Belarus, Dmitry Pyatachenko, the Coordinator of IFC project on improving the business climate in the Republic of Belarus and Eugene Osmochescu, the Senior Specialist of IFC in the development of the private sector took part in the organization and holding of the seminar.

During the visit of the Deputy Director-General of the WTO Alan Wolff to the Republic of Belarus on November 7 – 9, 2018 to discuss the negotiation process of Belarus' accession to the WTO Minister of Antimonopoly regulation and trade of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Koltovich and Alan Wolff met on November 8, 2018.

On November 5, 2018 in the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus was held the meeting with the Head of the Competition  and Consume Policies Branch  of the UNCTAD  Ms.Teresa Moreira in the framework of her visit to Minsk on 5-6 November 2018.

During the Meeting the Minister of Antimonopoly regulation and trade Vladimir Koltovich informed Teresa Moreira about the activities of the Ministry in the field of competition and antimonopoly regulation, as well as the main areas of cooperation of the Belarusian Antimonopoly Agency with leading international organizations. The special importance of the UNCTAD platform for addressing issues of international cooperation in the field of competition development was noted.

On September 3-4, 2018, the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus (MART) together with the WTO Secretariat and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) held the National Workshop on Government Procurement.

The workshop was attended by representatives of the WTO Secretariat, EBRD, government agencies, including employees of MART, representatives of operators of existing electronic trading platforms for government procurement, as well as business representatives.

On August 1, 2018 Vladimir Koltovich, the Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus, met with Artur Mikhalsky, the Ambassador of Poland to Belarus and discussed current issues of bilateral cooperation.

It is noted that there is a positive trend towards establishing regular contacts between the countries at all levels, which creates the basis for strengthening the long-term partnership.

In accordance with the assigned functions, one of the key tasks of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus (hereinafter – MART) as an antimonopoly agency is to counteract monopolistic activities and unfair competition, identify and prevent violations of the antimonopoly law, and promote the development of fair competition.

199 applications from economic entities were received by the MART in the first half of 2018 within the ongoing monitoring of the compliance with the antimonopoly law.

On July 11-13, 2018, the 17th session of Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy under the aegis of UNCTAD takes place in Geneva. The Belarusian delegation headed by Mr Vladimir Koltovich, Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade, takes part in work of the session.

The Group of Experts considers the key practices of development of competition policy, including the issue of further development of the UN Set on Mutually agreed Equitable Principles and Rules for the Control over Restrictive Business Practices.

On 27 June 2018 the meeting of the Committee of the World Trade Organization on Government Procurement took place in Geneva. Belarus delegation at the meeting was headed by Mr. Arthur Karpovich, First Deputy Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade.

Participants of the Committee with one voice decided to grant Belarus observer status in the Committee. The United States, the EU, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Singapore, Moldova, Canada, Norway expressed their support to Belarus. Thus, the Republic of Belarus became the first country which was granted this status before joining the WTO and received the right to participate in the discussions at the Committee on Government Procurement.