The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMC) announced that beginning on July 1, 2012, the AMC will impose the maximum fines permissible under Ukrainian law on companies that fail to file required pre-merger notifications in Ukraine.
In a statement released on June 19, the AMC stated that it intends to impose the maximum allowable fines under Ukrainian law, 5 percent of the worldwide turnover for the fined parties when companies fail to report transactions that exceed the statutory pre-clearance threshold. If the AMC actually imposes such fines, it would mark a departure for the AMC, which has rarely issued fines up to the maximum level for failure to file pre-merger notifications.
Filing of pre-merger notification is required under Ukrainian law if, in the previous fiscal year, one party to the transaction earned revenue of or had assets worth 1 million euros in Ukraine; at least two parties to the transaction earned revenue of or had assets worth 1 million euros worldwide; and the aggregate worldwide revenue or assets of all companies to the transaction was at least 12 million euros worldwide. Ukrainian law also requires filing of pre-merger notification if the parties to the transaction, individually or in the aggregate, hold a market share of greater than 35 percent. After filing a pre-merger notification, the parties to the transaction must abide by a 45-day waiting period before closing the transaction.
Parties with Ukrainian assets or operations are advised to carefully consider their obligations under Ukrainian pre-merger notification laws before engaging in significant transactions.
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