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Małgorzata Urbańska

Partner
Global Co-Head of CMS Antitrust, Competition & Trade Group

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang Pośniak i Bejm sp.k.
Varso Tower
Chmielna 69,
00-801 Warsaw
Poland
Languages Polish, English
Antitrust, Competition and Trade

Malgorzata Urbanska is the Head of the Competition and Public Procurement Group at CMS Poland and the Head of Consumer Products Sector Group in CEE.

She specialises in a wide range of Polish and EU competition law issues, including antitrust, merger control, state aid, public procurement, unfair competition and consumer protection.

She represented clients in numerous merger notifications to both Polish Competition Authority and the European Commission. She advises in cartel cases, including bid rigging, vertical restraints cases and on dominance issues. She works extensively on competition compliance and risk management, including internal investigations, setting compliance strategies and training for personnel of all levels.

She acts in front of competition authorities, but also successfully represents clients before competition courts, when appealing from adverse decisions and fines.

Malgorzata advises businesses from a range of industry sectors, but in particular consumer products, lifesciences, ICT and energy, oil and gas. 

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"She had wide experience of similar transactions and was able to decipher communications from the Polish regulator which were not especially clear to us in the UK"

Chambers Europe

"She had it all under control"

Chambers Europe

Relevant experience

  • P4 before the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection in a successful appeal against the decision of the President of the Polish Competition Authority which had imposed a fine on P4 for alleged involvement in a cartel with three other mobile operators (Orange, T-Mobile and Plus).
  • EFG Eurobank Ergasias in the process of reporting a proposed merger of their Polish operations with Raiffeisen Bank International AG to the European Commission, including drafting merger control notification and representing the client in proceedings before the Commission, which led to issuing a merger clearance.
  • Nutricia Poland on all aspects of the distribution of their products, as well as consumer communication and other consumer protection issues connected with various promotional activities.
  • Bombardier Transportation on various competition and public procurement issues, including the investigation from the Polish Competition Authority and the appeal to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection.
  • PGNiG (the Polish gas incumbent) before the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection in an appeal against the fine from the Polish Competition Authority for non-performance of the commitment decision.
  • PZU Zycie on an abuse of dominance case in front of the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection.
  • Domestic IT company in an investigation by the Polish Competition Authority regarding the alleged involvement in bid rigging cartel with two other market participants. 
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Memberships & Roles

  • Member, Competition Law Association in Poland
  • Member, Warsaw Bar of Legal Advisors 
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Education

  • Post-graduate degree in European Community Law and Competition Law, King’s College, London, UK.
  • Legal advisor training, admission to the Warsaw Bar of Legal Advisors, Warsaw.
  • Master’s degree, the Warsaw University, Warsaw.
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Public Procurement

Małgorzata Urbańska is the Head of Competition and Public Procurement Group at CMS Poland.She specialises in competition and public procurement law. She advises private and public companies on all kinds of tenders on the Polish market.

Malgorzata works for both suppliers and contracting authorities on procurement law issues across a broad range of business areas, including energy, oil and gas, construction, infrastructure, information and telecommunication technologies, lifesciences and others.

She advises on all stages of a procurement project, from preparation and choice of suitable tender procedure, through submission and selection of bids, to successful representation of parties in the appeal and court proceedings. She is experienced in bid rigging cases, consortium agreements, and other compliance aspects of a tendering process. 

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Clients widely praise her “coherent, communicative and clear way of explaining” legal matters.

Chambers Europe

Relevant experience

  • Lotos Petrobaltic on public procurement law aspects of the transaction involving a purchase of an oil rig along with the transport and insurance services.
  • Bombardier Transportation on various issues relating to their participation in public tenders on the Polish market.
  • Apator on various tendering issues. A significant part of assistance related to the SCW (Smart City Wrocław) project, consisting in the implementation of a smart metering system in Wrocław, run by Tauron Dystrybucja.
  • IBM on various issues relating to participation in tender proceedings and a number of procurement disputes relating to high-profile IT tenders, including representing them in the National Appeal Chambers.
  • Netsch in a public procurement litigation case before the National Appeal Chamber.
  • Lotos Petrobaltic in a restricted tender for the provision of catering and cleaning services for oil rigs. It included providing legal advice relating to the tender documentation (a tender announcement, completing terms of reference and drafting contract to be concluded with the selected contractor). 
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Memberships & Roles

  • Member, Competition Law Association in Poland
  • Member, Warsaw Bar of Legal Advisors 
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Education

  • Post-graduate degree in European Community Law and Competition Law, King’s College, London, UK.
  • Legal advisor training, admission to the Warsaw Bar of Legal Advisors, Warsaw.
  • Master’s degree, the Warsaw University, Warsaw.
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12/05/2022
10 key aspects of the revised EU competition law in the field of distribution...
The new Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and the new accompanying Vertical Guidelines (VGL) were published on 10 May 2022. The new VBER will enter into force on 1 June 2022 and apply for the next twelve years. The new VBER/VGL introduce sev

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15/04/2024
Green/sus­tain­ab­il­ity claims and advertising and consumer greenwashing
In the era of increased environmental awareness, the spotlight on green claims has never been more intense. As consumers are concerned about global heating and ecological sustainability, they are scrutinizing products like never before, seeking eco-friendly options that align with their values. In response, businesses have responded to this concern and consumers’ purchase interest, with brand-owners increasingly highlighting the benign or even beneficial effects their products and services have on the environment fostering a surge in green marketing initiatives. Yet, amidst this push for sustainability, the risk of being accused of greenwashing is omnipresent. As environmental characteristics of products and services are highly technical and the understanding of the various concepts involved is continuously changing, en­vir­on­ment­al/sus­tain­ab­il­ity claims raise a significant risk of confusing and misleading consumers. Many companies have fallen foul of advertising standards in this area recently. Given the high sensitivity of environmental claims and the reputational damage that can result from allegations of greenwashing, it is particularly important to make sure environmental claims are compliant. By ensuring truthful, accurate and unambiguous information is always given to the consumers, companies can avoid the risks and build a reputation for authenticity in their sustainability advertising and communications. CMS guides companies through the maze of regulations and case law and advise on the steps a company can take to ensure their advertising is not only compliant but also authentic and impactful. The priority questions we address are: Which green claims are likely to raise litigation or regulatory enforcement risks?What can businesses do to mitigate these risks?What are the likely claims/en­force­ment that could arise?Who is likely to make a claim?What are the risks in the event of a violation or a complaint? What future regulatory measures are expected and what companies have to do now to be prepared? We offer various solutions to help you be compliant and avoid accusations of greenwashing: Sustainability claim checks including regulatory risk matrix as well as litigation: evaluating the planned claims and mapping their risk as well as developing compliant marketing strategies and claims custom-tailored to your business's unique pro­file;Sus­tain­ab­il­ity-re­lated litigation: providing comprehensive support in legal disputes in the area of advertising with environmental claims;Training sessions: to empower your legal, compliance and sustainability as well as advertising teams with in-depth knowledge of sustainability risks and mitigation strategies; andBoard packs: to equip your directors/board members with actionable insights into greenwashing risks, ensuring they steer the company toward sustainable strategies with confidence and integrity.  For an initial conversation on how we can support you on greenwashing risk, please reach out to the lawyers listed on this page or to your usual CMS contact.
01/12/2023
EU Competition Law Briefings
The EU Competition Law Briefings have been created to provide a platform for our clients and other competition law experts to stay up to date on the developments of EU Competition Law. Every month CMS...
13/10/2023
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Comparable
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Short Rules on Price Reduction Campaign in Poland
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Comparable
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Greenwashing - new guidelines and first proceedings
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06/02/2023
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New environmental regulations in CEE: revolution or evolution for consumer...
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26/08/2022
Public procurement regulation in Poland
December 2018 1. Where can one find public procurement notifications for Poland? Information about public tenders in Poland may be found in the online version of the Supplement to the Official Journal...