Dozens of cases of ritual services placement found in hospitals: Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine reported a problem
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) provided local governments and healthcare institutions with recommendations on complying with competition protection legislation when leasing hospital premises for ritual services.
According to AMCU, the Committee found practices where local governments and healthcare facility managers lease hospital premises to entities providing ritual services.
According to the Committee, ritual services operating directly within medical institutions gain significant competitive advantages over other market participants. This is because hospitals concentrate a large number of potential consumers who usually prefer to order the entire range of ritual services from a single provider.
During the market analysis, AMCU surveyed nearly 250 local governments across Ukraine. The study revealed over 70 cases where businesses providing ritual services leased premises of healthcare institutions.
The highest number of such cases was recorded in Kyiv and Kharkiv regions. In Kyiv, nine hospital lease agreements were signed with ritual service providers, five of which were with the same company. In Kharkiv, one municipal enterprise provides ritual services on the premises of nine medical institutions.
In this regard, on July 16, the Antimonopoly Committee issued advisory clarifications recommending local governments and communal non-commercial enterprises – managers of healthcare institutions – not to create unjustified advantages for certain businesses in providing ritual services and selling ritual items when leasing premises, and to consider the requirements of competition protection legislation.
The full text of the advisory clarifications will be published on the official AMCU website.
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