105 / 391
COMP ET I T I ON LAW
91
described under Article 7 of the Act No. 4054 and thus in significant
lessening of competition under the following conditions:
•
The statement that “unless” Mey İçki Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. “is able
to secure any trademark, patent, and logo relating to the expression
of İstanblue, the trademark of Votka 1967 will not be divested, but
instead, İstanblue brands will be included in the divestiture,” is
omitted from the commitment. The Board should give a decision so
that all competition concerns are eliminated. Within this context,
the decision given by the Board is correct. Indeed, the Board made
amendments in the commitment in order that all competition
concerns are eliminated. However, the Board will give the grounds
of this decision in its justified decision. Indeed, it is stated in the
decision that the Commission will prove that commitments will
permit the continuity of effective competition in the market
7
.
•
The first divestiture period included in the commitment is limited
with (…) and the divestiture period with an expert is limited with
(…). As also stated in Article 9 of the Notice, commitments must
be implemented within a short period of time
“as the conditions
of competition in the market will not be maintained”
until the
commitments have been fulfilled. For that reason, the time limitation
imposed by the Board is correct.
•
The point relating to the executives, officers, employees, advisors,
stakeholders, distributors, and capital owners is omitted from the
article that is under Article 4.1 of the commitment and sets the
conditions for buyers, and this same change is made to Article 1.3
of the “Divestiture Expert Contract”
8
.
•
The last subparagraph of Article 1.3. of the “Divestiture Expert
Contract” is omitted from the contract
9
.
•
Within the duration of the first divestiture period, production under
the trademark of Votka 1967 is transferred to Burgaz facilities, and
production under the trademark of İstanblue is transferred to Mey İçki
facilities. Our comments set forth under point 1 are also valid here.
7 Paragraph 64 of the decision EDP / Commission numbered T-87/05 and dated September 21,
2005.
8 No any comment is made since the commitment article cannot be seen.
9 No any comment is made since the commitment article cannot be seen.