Dear Sir/Madam,

Dear Clients and Colleagues,

We would like to inform you that due to the state of emergency (State of Emergency) declared by the Government Decree 40/2020 (III.11.) on 11 March 2020, as of 16 March 2020 the following changes have been put in place concerning the administration of the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH):

  1. The civil servants of the Authority shall carry out their duties primarily from home.
  2. In view of the epidemiological situation, customer service related activities shall be temporarily suspended.
  3. By way of derogation from information on the mode of communication published pursuant to Article 53/A of Act LVII of 1996 on the Prohibition of Unfair and Restrictive Market Practices, during this period of time the primary mode of communication shall be through electronic means pursuant to Act CCXXII of 2015 on the General Rules for Trust Services and Electronic Transactions, and through electronic means  which does not qualify as written communication (via e-mail). All sections of the Authority shall be contacted via e-mail.
  4. During the course of the State of Emergency, the Competition Council shall not hold any hearings, interviews and it shall inform the parties concerned of the postponement of all scheduled hearings. Personal delivery of documents addressed to the Competition Council, due to the risks of personal contact, shall be suspended. The processing of submissions lodged via the official portal of the Authority, and the availability of the Competition Council’s Secretariat through e-mail (vt-titkarsag@gvh.hu) are ensured.
  5. As regards to ongoing competition supervision proceedings that are currently in the investigation phase, the participants and/or their legal representatives and third parties shall contact the case handlers via email.
  6. The Virtual Data Room is available during this period. Consequently, the uploading of new documents generated in the course of cases and the registration of new users are ensured.
  7. Personal administration in relation to the notification of a concentration shall be suspended during the course of the State of Emergency, while the possibility of pre-notification contact shall be provided by the Merger Section via e-mail (fuzios@gvh.hu) and by telephone (+3614728908). This landline number has been redirected, and as a result, the Merger Section is still reachable through the above-mentioned number. We kindly ask you to submit the notification form of a concentration by completing the iForm. Undertakings are requested to consider postponing the announcement of their proposed concentration, taking into account that the Authority will face serious difficulties collecting information in the upcoming weeks, if it is necessary to contact third parties (e.g. competitors, suppliers) in relation to the transaction.
  8. Personal hearings and counselling via telephone shall be temporarily suspended at the Customer Relations Section. We kindly ask you to submit your messages or questions by post, e-mail or through your client site. Contact details of the Customer Relations Section are available here. 

Thank you for your patience and understanding!

Yours faithfully,

Hungarian Competition Authority

Budapest, 19 March 2020