On 5 March 2025, Antitrust Advisory, in collaboration with the law firm Kosta Legal and with the support of the Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Research Center under the Competition Promotion and Consumer Protection Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, held a practical conference titled “Competition regulation in Uzbekistan: trends, risks, and compliance” in Tashkent.

The conference addressed pressing issues related to the application of the updated competition legislation in the Republic of Uzbekistan, which underwent modernisation in 2023-2024.

The event commenced with a welcome address by Farukh Karabaev, Deputy Chairman of the Competition Promotion and Consumer Protection Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan. He provided an overview of the recent changes in Uzbekistan’s competition regulation, focusing on the regulation of digital markets and the concept of “superior bargaining power”, as well as outlining the new initiatives from the competition authority.

A key focus of the conference was the concept of dominance and superior bargaining power, a new inclusion in Uzbekistan’s Competition Law.

Anna Zabolotnykh, Senior Associate at Antitrust Advisory, discussed how the new regulation aligns with global trends and addressed the following key questions in her presentation:

• What are the competition risks for companies, even if their market share does not exceed 40%?
• What challenges might companies and regulators face when applying the concept of superior bargaining power?
• What are the specific prohibitions for dominant players and those with superior bargaining power?
• What consequences can companies face for violating these prohibitions?

Pavel Palkichev, leading antitrust lawyer at Yandex, shared insights on self-regulation in digital markets.

Vazgen Grigoryan, Partner at Kosta Legal, discussed the procedural aspects of judicial disputes in Uzbekistan related to competition regulation.

Aliye Ablyalimova, Senior Associate at Kosta Legal, and Anna Zabolotnykh presented an overview of Uzbekistan's competition compliance legislation. They addressed key questions, including:

• What are the mandatory cases for implementing compliance?
• What are the specific features of implementing compliance in Uzbekistan?
• What role does a compliance officer play?
• What requirements are there for reporting on compliance implementation?
• What are the benefits of implementing compliance?

Anastasia Shastitko, Head of Economic Practice at Antitrust Advisory, discussed additional measures that companies can take to mitigate competition risks, including:

• Self-analysis companies can conduct to assess their market position.
• Commercial, sales, and pricing policies.
• Systemic analysis of business decisions.

Anastasia also presented a workshop based on the experience of developing, implementing, and aligning competition compliance and commercial policies for participants in the Kazakhstani oil product market. She provided specific examples of the challenges businesses and legal professionals may encounter when developing compliance programmes and commercial policies and explained how these challenges can be resolved.