NAVITSKI Anton

Anton Navitski advises and represents his clients on a wide range of antitrust-related matters.

Anton is one of the few lawyers in Belarus specializing in competition and antitrust law. His experience working in a leadership role at the Belarusian antitrust authority, combined with his extensive involvement in antitrust investigations, merger control, and client advisory services, allows him to have a clear understanding of the specificities of antitrust regulation in Belarus and to account for the authority's approaches to particular issues and tasks.

In addition to antitrust law, Anton also has experience supporting large and complex projects in public-private partnerships, privatizations, investments, and mergers and acquisitions, where the clients include not only business entities but also government agencies.

Anton has significant legislative experience: he contributed to the drafting of several laws and presidential decrees in Belarus, as well as other legislative acts. Notably, he played a direct role in drafting and supporting the law on combating monopolistic practices and promoting competition, as well as chapters and annexes of the EAEU treaty concerning general principles and competition rules.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Antitrust and Competition

Anton has extensive experience in antitrust investigations across various sectors, including energy, telecommunications, IT, education, road transport, and pharmaceuticals. Some of his recent cases include:

• Representing a major international IT company specializing in video game production in an unfair competition case;
• Representing a participant in a cartel in the corrugated cardboard packaging market in an administrative violation case;
• Successfully defending the interests of Kvitki Bel, one of Belarus’s largest ticketing operators, in a case brought by a competitor for abuse of dominant position and unfair competition;
• Defending the client in Belarus’s first-ever cartel case. The Supreme Court’s review led to the partial annulment of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade's (MART) decision;
• Representing TEP Belgruzavtotrans, one of Belarus’s largest road transport companies, in a case against the Ministry of Transport and Communications, which resulted in MART finding a violation and prompting the Ministry to amend key transport laws;
• Defending the interests of SKUL DIARY, the largest supplier of electronic services for secondary education, in an antitrust investigation involving potential violations by government bodies. Although no violations were found, the outcome led to adjustments in government approaches to market regulation that were more pro-competitive;
• Securing MART approval for an economic concentration (merger control) involving a subsidiary of a major international shoe company, a case that set a legal precedent and prompted MART to clarify its position on foreign transactions not directly involving Belarus.

Anton has also conducted a full-scale antitrust audit for one of the largest companies in Belarus and provided antitrust compliance advice for several international clients.

Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), Investments, Public Procurement

Anton has supported PPP projects in Belarus, including providing recommendations for PPP law development, drafting tender documentation, and other project implementation documents. He has been involved in:

• Drafting pilot privatization projects in Belarus;
• Assisting with fundraising for renewable energy projects;
• Supporting the creation of an investment fund in Belarus, including drafting legislative proposals;
• Advising a large international equipment manufacturer in challenging tender outcomes during construction projects;
• Assisting with the withdrawal of a supplier from the blacklist in public procurement matters.

Additional Experience in Legislation Development

Anton has contributed to the preparation of several important legal frameworks, including:

• The EAEU Treaty on competition, natural monopolies, investments, and energy;
• The Belarusian Law on Combating Monopolistic Practices and Promoting Competition;
• The Belarusian Law on Natural Monopolies.

He has also been involved in drafting and improving competition law within Belarus and the EAEU.

Academic and Practical Activities

• Co-author of the book "Competition Law in the Eurasian Economic Union";
• Lecturer at the Belarusian State Economic University for the Master’s program in "Economic Regulation and Antitrust";
• Organizer of the first antitrust business game in Belarus;
• Author of numerous scientific and practical articles on competition law;
• Organizer and participant in various seminars on antitrust and competition.

Education:

• Law degree from the Faculty of Law at Belarusian State University (specialization in "Economic Law");
• Degree in Finance from the Institute of Business Management and Technologies at Belarusian State University;
• Participation in OECD seminars on competition law in Budapest, Hungary.

Professional Memberships:

• Member of the Eurasian Antimonopoly Association.

Recognition: In 2015, Anton received a certificate of honor from the Ministry of Economics of Belarus for his contribution to drafting the EAEU treaty.

Languages: Belarusian, Russian, English.