Competition policy has gone through difficult times in Ukraine. There have been reforms with respect to competition legislation and to the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU). However, a comprehensive and holistic strategy has been missing as well as the capacity building in institutions and authorities other than the AMCU.
The lack of a policy strategy towards competition and the missing links between SME policy and competition policy can lead to severe inefficiencies in the market system. Unreasonably low entry barriers for solo entrepreneurs and microbusinesses combined with growth barriers and the protection of big incumbent companies destroy incentives to innovate, create a class of chanceless low-income micro-entrepreneurs and contribute to economic stagnation.
Furthermore, neglecting the competition law enforcement within the SME sector facilitates the emergence of anti-competitive structures and dynamics that hinder innovative entrepreneurship even further.
In order to take advantage of the synergies between SME policy and competition policy in Ukraine, this policy paper contains a number of recommendations.
This report has been financed by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.
