Addressing Anti-Competitive Practices in Kosovo’s Market
September 29, 2025
Kosovo’s Law No. 08/L-056 on Protection of Competition serves as a key instrument in maintaining fair and open market conditions by addressing anti-competitive behavior, supporting free market principles, and aligning with EU legal standards. The law equips the Kosovo Competition Authority (KCA) with the authority to investigate, sanction, and prevent restrictive practices and abusive market conduct.
The legal framework reflects Kosovo’s broader efforts to align with EU competition rules and strengthen the application of market principles. It supports a competitive and transparent economic environment, contributing to legal certainty for businesses operating in or engaging with the Kosovo market.
Territorial Scope – The law applies to all undertakings—natural or legal persons—that engage in economic activities capable of affecting competition in Kosovo, regardless of where they are based. This extraterritorial application ensures that both domestic and foreign entities are subject to the same standards when their conduct impacts the local market. accountable for their impact on local competition dynamics.
The law explicitly prohibits:
- Anti-competitive agreements (horizontal and vertical), including cartels, price-fixing, and market sharing. Enterprises involved in prohibited cartel agreements may be fined by the KCA up to 10% of their total global turnover from the previous financial year.
- Abuse of a dominant position, such as imposing unfair prices or limiting production to the detriment of consumers. An enterprise is presumed to hold a dominant position if it has at least 40% of the relevant market, unless proven otherwise. A group of enterprises with a combined market share over 60% may also be presumed dominant if they act independently in the market. Below these thresholds, the burden of proof lies with the KCA.
- Certain concentrations between undertakings that may significantly restrict competition.
Merger Notification Requirements – Mergers, acquisitions, or other forms of concentration are subject to prior notification to the KCA if certain financial thresholds are met. The Authority may approve, conditionally approve, or prohibit such transactions, depending on their likely effects on market structure.
The Law on Protection of Competition allows certain agreements to be excluded from prohibition, including:
- Vertical agreements (exclusive or selective distribution, exclusive purchase),
- Horizontal agreements (research, development, specialization),
- Agreements on technology transfer, vehicle distribution/servicing, insurance, and those in the transport sector.
Also excluded are agreements of which both the parties and the enterprises they control have an insignificant market position and their common market share does not exceed:
- 10%, for horizontal agreement;
- 15%, for vertical agreement;
- 10% for agreement with both the characteristics of horizontal and vertical agreements or if it is difficult to determine whether the agreement is vertical or horizontal;
- 30%, if the agreements between the different participants have a significant effect on the market and the individual participation of each participant does not exceed 5% of each individual market where the effects of the agreement appear.
In line with Kosovo’s Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU, the law closely mirrors core provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and relevant EU regulations. This legal harmonization offers greater legal certainty for investors and facilitates Kosovo’s integration into the European legal and economic space.
The Kosovo Competition Authority (KCA) has been granted enhanced investigative powers, including the ability to conduct dawn raids, demand access to business records and electronic data and impose significant administrative fines for non-compliance or breaches of competition rules.
In recent years, the KCA has shown increased assertiveness, investigating suspected cartels, scrutinizing dominant market players, and reviewing M&A activity with greater rigor.
Kosovo’s competition law framework plays an important role in promoting market fairness and protecting consumer interests. Its alignment with EU standards reflects the country’s ongoing commitment to the rule of law and the creation of a stable and predictable economic environment for both domestic and international investors.
However, the effectiveness of the law depends largely on consistent enforcement and increased awareness among market participants. Businesses operating in Kosovo—or planning to enter the market—should carefully assess their commercial practices and merger strategies to ensure compliance with the applicable legal obligations.
Author: Agnesa Azemi Ademi
This article was first published in CEE Legal Matters.