Fact: on 5 September 2019, the Antimonopoly
Committee of Ukraine (AMC) ruled on the compulsorily split of
Ostchem Group owned by the Ukrainian businessman, Dmytro Firtash,
and simultaneously imposed a fine of EUR 3.8 million on one of the
companies of Ostchem Group, for an infringement amounting to abuse
of dominance on the Ukrainian market of nitrogen fertilizers.
Importance: this is the first AMC decision on
compulsory split adopted in 24 years. A similar sanction was
applied by the AMC only once, back in 1995 in the case of dominance
abuse by dairy factories.
Looking Ahead: this case may signal changes in
the AMC's practice and approach towards dominant position
treatment and types of remedies applied in abuse of dominance
cases. Furthermore, it cannot be excluded that the AMC may apply
the same sanctions in complex merger control proceedings where, to
date, behavioral remedies were applied in the vast majority of
cases. Most importantly, this precedent may be
