Clifford Chance
New Merger Control Rules in Slovakia
6 December 2011
In November 2011, a long expected amendment to the Slovak merger control rules was approved under Act No. 387/2011 Coll. and Decree No. 402/2011 (the "Amendment"). The Amendment results from the efforts of the Slovak Antimonopoly Office (the "Office") to reform its stringent merger control rules. The major changes brought about by the Amendment are as follows:
- New turnover thresholds;
- Shorter clearance deadlines;
- Introduction of the SIEC test for the substantive assessment;
- New definition of affected markets.
The Amendment will become effective on 1 January 2012. Although it does not apply to notifiable transactions signed before 31 December 2011 and any merger control proceedings commenced before that date, the Office will stop any merger clearance proceedings where the new merger control thresholds will not be met.
