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Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic Annual Report 2001
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Mainly the support of market principles unblocking barriers to entry and exit the market and the
guarantee of the same conditions for market participants represent the goals of competition policy.
Development of competition culture, effort to inculcate competition principles into the subconscious of
all „players“ in the market are the essential presumptions of the effective realisation of all economic
reforms, as the proportionality of growth and efficiency of the economy could be reached only if all
participated „players“, it means state, private sector and consumers, would make their decisions in the
name of competition. The Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic monitors the fulfilment of this
goal, namely by interventions eliminating restrictive practices and structural problems in the particular
markets, with the meaning to create and to provide for fair competitive conditions all over the Slovak
Republic.
GOALS OF THE COMPETITION POLICY AND THE ROLE OF THE ANTIMONOPOLY
OFFICE OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC
Competition is one of the essential and necessary elements of economic system. Competition forces
individual undertakings to behave more effectively, to adapt to constant changes in the market, to
innovate their products and particular production processes. Through this pressure the competition
significantly contributes to the improvement of the overall dynamics and to the improvement of
development of the individual branches of industry and also to the lower prices and higher quality of
products and services for consumers.
Also in market economy there are lot of possibilities and opportunities to restrict competition, what has
significant negative impact to the community. It is necessary to protect market against activities and
conducts, which might lead to competition restriction in order to prevent the mentioned status, or in the
worse situation to disclose and punish these activities and conducts, when they have already occurred.
Introduction of efficient competition law and its effective, correct and transparent enforcement by an
independent institution is one of the ways to minimalise competition restriction, to eliminate
anticompetitive practices and to support competition.
Act No. 136/2001 Coll. adjusts the protection of competition in Slovakia. Purpose of this act is to
protect competition in the product market against its restriction and to create conditions for its future
development with the aim to support economic development to the benefit of consumers. The
Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic has the power to protect and support competition in
Slovakia. Implementing new act the Office enters market relations with the aim to prevent the creation
of unacceptable structures in the market, namely by control of concentration and also with the aim to
correct or to eliminate possible deformation in the area of competition in the form of agreements
restricting competition, abusing practices of undertakings holding a dominant position and in the form
of inappropriate measures of state administrative bodies and municipality authorities.
LEGISLATION IN THE AREA OF COMPETITION PROTECTION
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