NEWSLETTER-2020-metin

129 COMPETITION LAW parts of the world opened investigations, especially as to food and cleaning / hygiene products as soon as the epidemic started. In addition, due to the fact that hundreds of thousands of public employees stayed in their homes during the epidemic, both in the Eu- ropean Union (“EU”) Member States and the EU Commission, the principle to conduct meetings through video conferencing or over the phone became more widely used. In addition, many Member State Competition Authorities were requested to postpone merger and ac- quisition applications as much as possible, and it was announced that they would be treated flexibly in terms of time. As the employees of the Competition Authorities return to their jobs, long-awaited deci- sions will begin to be issued. COVID-19 in Terms of Turkish Competition Law Claims of excessive increases in the prices of health and cleaning materials and, especially, food, has come to the forefront since mid- March when the COVID 19 outbreak started to gain momentum in Turkey 1 . In addition to the difficulty in the supply of some products due to the increase in demand, prices started to increase significantly with the start of Ramadan. Production difficulties caused by the CO- VID 19 outbreak created serious uncertainties for all players in the market. While consumers had difficulty in finding some products in the market, they had accessed many products at very high prices as compared to the past. The increase in the demand for products used for protection against epidemics, such as gloves, cologne and masks, made it difficult to find the said products. This situation started to affect many sectors. For example, since ethyl alcohol required for the production of cologne and disinfectants is difficult to find in the market, the necessity of mixing ethanol into gasoline has been suspended for 3 months 2 . Likewise, electricity 1 https://www.sabah.com.tr/ekonomi/2020/03/13/corona-firsatcilari (Access date: 09.06.2020); https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/ekonomi/son-dakika-bakan-pekcan- dan-corona-virus-aciklamasi-fiyat-artislarina-gerekeni-yapacagiz-41466705 (Access date: 09.06.2020). 2 https://www.enerjigunlugu.net/kolonya-uretimi-icin-3-ay-benzine-etanol- karistirilmayacak-36518h.htm (Access date: 09.06.2020).