Verelq: We should not have cases of abuse of dominant position. RA Prime Minister

A consultation was held in the government under the leadership of RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, during which issues aimed at preventing abuses in the activities of companies with monopoly positions in various fields, and ensuring fair and honest competition were discussed.

“The topic of our discussion today will be what is known as a monopoly in the Republic of Armenia, de facto or de jure, in this case it is not very important. Our economic policy is as follows. we intend to establish an inclusive economic system in Armenia. What does this mean? this means that we are recording a reality according to which certain economic activities were carried out by administrative decisions in Armenia before the Velvet Revolution, de facto or de jure is not essential in this case, and the opportunities to carry out activities in these areas were distributed among a limited number of people. By an inclusive economic system, we mean that the people previously included in those fields should no longer have the opportunity to carry out activities in the given fields, but on the contrary, the part of the activities assigned to them by governmental decisions should be liberalized, so to speak, and those people and all those who wish to carry out activities in those fields. Of course, it is clear that after the victory of the Velvet Revolution, there are no political obstacles to create such a situation in Armenia, and the political obstacles have been removed, all the conditions for having an inclusive system have been created. I think we should monitor the situation from time to time in order to understand what is happening in the domains known to the public as monopolized sectors, whether we have a change in the de facto situation there or not, and if we do not have a change in the situation, what measures should we take in order to really be able to ensure real economic competition, access to markets not only de jure, but also de facto,” said Nikol Pashinyan.

Artak Shaboyan, the chairman of the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition, presented detailed information about the processes taking place in recent months, the current situation in the monopolistic markets. In that regard, the President of the State University of Ukraine referred to the developments in the sugar, gasoline and banana markets. In particular, he reported that until recently, the main supplier of sugar in Armenia was one company, but in the last two months, the companies importing sugar and the batches of sugar imports have increased significantly. As a result of the competition created in the sector, it happens decrease in the price of sugar. Currently, one kilogram of sugar costs 285 drams, compared to 390 drams at the beginning of the year, that is, the price has decreased by 26 percent.

Referring to the sector of gasoline and diesel fuel, the president of the TMMPU informed that there are 3-4 large companies operating here and currently there is no ban and any businessman can carry out importation. According to Artak Shaboyan, the main problem for companies entering the market in this sector is related to infrastructure in terms of selling gasoline and diesel fuel. According to the president of the State Technical University of Ukraine, there is also a problem of underfilling in the market, which causes unequal competitive conditions, there are also problems related to diesel fuel standards.

Touching on the banana market, the President of the State University of Agriculture and Forestry emphasized that until recently 90 percent of the market was owned by one company and its affiliated companies. During the last two months, the number of banana importing companies and import batches has also increased significantly. As a result, the price of bananas in our country decreased at least twice and today it is 480 drams. Artak Shaboyan noted that the TMSU will continue studies in this area in order to highlight possible anti-competitive actions.

Artak Shaboyan he also presented details about the activities of large supermarkets, CNG companies, referred to the existing anti-competitive situation and the problems in these areas.

There was an interesting exchange of ideas around the presented information, and various recommendations were made regarding fighting possible monopolies and ensuring free competitive conditions through legislative regulations. In relation to some problems, including underfilling at gas stations and CNG stations, the implementation of appropriate steps by the Market Control Inspection Body has been highlighted.

Prime Minister Pashinyan instructed the officials to discuss the submitted recommendations once again, come to concrete conclusions and present the results to him. Summarizing, the head of the government noted. “We must not have monopolies and cases of abuse of dominant position, regardless of the instrument we use to do it. Our task is to ensure that there are no market access problems not only de jure, but also de facto. When we make a statement, we must first examine whether the settings work in real life, or whether the statements continue to be in one dimension and the reality in another. Here I expect the active cooperation of the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition, the State Revenue Committee and, in general, the relevant departments of the government.”