Lions Lawyers Represents 50+ Actors in Major Competition Case Before Ukraine’s Antimonopoly Authority

Written By Stanislav Batryn

Lions Lawyers represents more than 50 professional actors and their talent representatives

Lions Lawyers represents more than 50 professional actors and their talent representatives in collective proceedings before the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine concerning alleged anticompetitive practices affecting access to Ukraine’s film and commercial video-production market

The issue

The complaint concerns alleged coordinated conduct by leading participants in the Ukrainian video-production industry and an industry association.

It challenges practices alleged to restrict actors’ access to projects solely because they are represented by particular professional representatives.

The application raises issues of anticompetitive concerted practices, decisions of an association of undertakings, business disparagement and alleged abuse of a dominant market position.

The alleged market restriction

At the centre of the case is a September 2025 communication issued by the Association of Advertising Production Companies of Ukraine. According to the complaint, the communication called on market participants not to propose actors represented by R Talent for projects undertaken by members of the association.

The application argues that this amounted to an exclusionary policy directed not merely against the talent representatives themselves, but against more than 50 professional actors represented by them. The alleged restriction was therefore capable of affecting actors’ access to castings, commercial projects and professional opportunities because of their choice of representative.

The complaint further alleges that the effects extend beyond commercial advertising into film, video and television production and may affect access to international projects, including work connected with the EU and other foreign markets.

Scale of the case

The proceedings concern conduct attributed in the application to 32 economic entities, including companies and economic groups operating in the video-production industry.

As part of the competition analysis, the legal team examined the commercial activity of 17 of those entities and assembled evidence concerning more than 2,500 projects undertaken for at least 312 national and international brands. The evidence is relied upon to demonstrate the commercial reach and market influence of the participants whose conduct is challenged.

The actors’ representatives themselves had developed a portfolio of more than 50 professional actors in less than two years, making the impact of any coordinated exclusion particularly significant for both the representatives and the individual performers whose careers depend upon access to casting and production opportunities.

Competition law and the creative industries

The case raises a broader issue concerning the application of competition law to professional opportunities in the creative industries.

Where commercially influential market participants coordinate policies governing who may participate in projects, the consequences may extend beyond ordinary contractual relations. Such practices can potentially affect market access, freedom of representation and the ability of independent professionals and smaller businesses to compete.

The complaint therefore asks the Antimonopoly Committee to examine not only the association communication itself, but also its alleged implementation across the market and the relationships between the companies and economic groups involved.

Relief sought before the Antimonopoly Committee

Lions Lawyers has requested that the Antimonopoly Committee open proceedings, investigate the alleged coordinated conduct and obtain relevant corporate, financial and communications evidence from the market participants concerned.

The application also seeks measures aimed at terminating any infringement and restoring effective access to the market, including withdrawal of the disputed association communication, correction of information disseminated to market participants and removal of barriers affecting the actors and their representatives.

The filing asks the Committee to consider sanctions where infringements are established and to adopt effective measures protecting and restoring the applicants’ rights.

Stanislav Batryn
Next

Court Rejects UAH 90 Million Governance Damage Claim Against Senior Public Official