Our Scholars 2022 – Viktoriia Yovyk

Your current occupation and country of work?
I am a Ukrainian in-house counsel. I work for a state-owned enterprise that conducts electronic auctions to dispose of seized property.

How you use European law in your work?
My work allows me to use European competition law from two different perspectives. The most frequent one is for the interpretation of Ukrainian law. Our competition law is being adapted to European law, and to better understand the new national legislation, I use established EU practices. Also, for some purposes, I turn to the practice of the European Court of Justice and use documents that the European Commission and its Directorate General for Competition produce.
The use of the European practice is very helpful for me as a Ukrainian lawyer because we do not have much practical experience in this area, especially in using harmonized regulations as they are relatively new. I analyse and use arguments that were used by the European Court of Justice to make my position stronger. Ukrainian judges also use European practices, and it is useful to be able to work with the European Court of Justice and the Directorate General for Competition documents.

How you benefitted from the scholarship and the gained knowledge?
At the moment, Ukraine is not a member of the EU. Despite this, Ukrainian competition law is similar to European law, and the Association Agreement with the EU has an impact on the transformation of the Ukrainian legal system. Attending the Summer Course on European Antitrust Law was an enormously valuable experience to adapt to this change.
One of the key topics during the Summer Course on European Antitrust Law were the methods for defining the relevant market. As for now, my company wants to expand its activities. So far, we have identified existing markets in which we do not currently operate. However, we are trying to identify markets that can be digitalized with electronic auctions. After the Summer Course, I expanded my understanding of market sizing, and now I can perform my work tasks from a different perspective.
The Summer Course also covered an important topic – the abuse of a dominant market position. My company was pushed out from several markets where electronic auctions could be used because of the monopoly position of another company. During the Summer course, I gained a deep understanding of the methods of how my company can defend its own interests.
Also, Ukraine has been granted the EU candidate status, and I hope that Ukraine will receive a victory against Russia very soon and we will start to rebuild our country. According to recent events, our legislation system will experience a lot of different changes, and I hope that soon, I will be able to use gained knowledge and experiences more directly.
It is also important that the scholarship was the only opportunity for me to become a part of this course. And I am thankful for this unique chance.