Decision on Mercator's sale in BiH in May, market analysis underway

The Competition Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina will make a decision and stance on the sale of "Mercator" to the Croatian company "Agrokor", owned by Ivica Todorić, next month, it was confirmed for the BiH news agency Patria (NAP) from this institution.

The Croatian Agency for the Protection of Competition yesterday conditionally approved the transfer of ownership of part of the Slovenian company in that country to "Agrokor", Slovenia had previously approved it, and decisions from BiH and Serbia are still pending.

The Croatian concern "Agrokor" has initiated the largest trade transaction in the history of this region, through which Todorić will own the two largest retail chains in the region – "Konzum" and "Mercator".

Two days ago, Todorić stated in Moscow, during the agreement on a 600 million euro loan with "Sberbank", that the process of buying "Mercator" is still ongoing.

The Competition Council of BiH confirmed to agency Patria that the request for approval of the purchase was received in May last year, but that the deadline for making a decision has been extended due to the complexity of the case. Thus, this request will be considered for almost a full year. There is serious concern that with this purchase, Todorić could achieve a monopoly in BiH, or disrupt the free market.

- Since the procedure is still ongoing, we cannot prejudge the final outcome of the procedure, but we can point out that the Competition Council will thoroughly analyze the wholesale and retail market of food products and consumer goods in BiH (including the markets of entities, cantons, as well as some cities where the concentration participants have significant market shares, and we have requested data on total revenues generated in the aforementioned markets from all relevant competitors in the BiH market – state the Competition Council of BiH for NAP.

As they emphasize, in accordance with BiH laws, they can prohibit the purchase of Mercator by Agrokor, or only conditionally approve it if it turns out that the market shares of the participants in the relevant market exceed 40 percent. Croatia gave a conditional green light, stating that Agrokor must sell 96 stores in that country.