Competition/Antitrust

About

Provided by Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak

SK&S’ Competition Law Department is led by Krzysztof Kanton.

We  represent clients before Poland’s Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK), the European Commission and the courts. We defend them against accusations that they are involved in anti-competitive agreements, abuse a dominant position, or breach the collective interests of consumers. We obtain the Commission or UOKiK approvals for concentrations. We also assist in cases concerned with securing contractual advantage and with payment backlogs. We represent entrepreneurs in litigation in cases for reparation of the damage arising out of breach of competition rules.

We have unique experience built over years of practice. In antimonopoly proceedings where fixing resale prices had been alleged, we secured a conditional decision (with no penalties imposed) that was the first of its type in the UOKIK’s history. What distinguishes us is a high rate of success in challenging accusations of misconduct made by the competition authorities against entrepreneurs. We estimate that the total amount of penalties that our clients have avoided paying reaches several hundred million Zloty. The arguments we have presented often led to the decision to discontinue proceedings at the administrative phase. Where the UOKiK did make a decision on the merits, the appeals we filed led to that decision being reversed or to a substantial reduction of the penalties.