Competition law enforcement in Ukraine: challenges from on-line giants

Competition law, economics and policy are facing a regulatory metamorphosis due to the rise of the digital economy. US, China and EU jurisdictions have announced and partially introduced systemic changes to their competition law frameworks to keep pace with technological developments. The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine is following the principle of ‘three monkeys’, it sees no on-line platforms, hears no on-line platforms, speaks of no on-line platforms, so nothing has been undertaken or even announced. The paper is twofold. Firstly, it analyses the economic background and features of the digital economy and shows why the available instruments of competition enforcement are ineffective. The second part of the paper shows why the current Ukrainian competition law framework is (in)capable of dealing with challenges posed by on-line giants. Regarding the need for a recalibration of regulatory approaches in digital markets, Ukraine faces the dilemma of a proper combination of ex ante and ex post measures.