ARMENIA’S ANTIMONOPOLY COMMISSION TO MONITOR 15 COMMODITY MARKETS ON NEW YEAR’S EVE
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Dec 12 2007
YEREVAN, December 12. /ARKA/. Armenia’s State Commission for Protection
of Economic Competition is to conduct monitoring of 15 commodity
markets in the period from December 15 to January 15 to study selling
prices for goods, the Chairman of the Commission Ashot Shakhnazarian
said at the commission’s sitting Wednesday. The preference will be
given to the markets with dominating entities and large extent of
centralization, he said.
Having in mind the revaluation of Dram and increase in prices on New
Year’s eve in the previous years the Commission aims at revealing
unjustified increase in prices and anticompetitive collusions, the
head of the Commission said. The monitoring is to warn businessmen
against artificial rise in prices, Shakhnazarian added. He said that
the outcome of the monitoring will be published after January 20.
The Commission conducts regular monitoring of some 30-35 commodity
markets of the country, which have been relatively stable recently.
"Certain trends toward reduction in prices for dairy butter and
vegetable oil and stable prices for eggs are observed on the commodity
market; yet, the problem with bread remains with the prices maintained
and the weight of products reduced," Shakhnazarian said adding that
the studies on bread have been already sent to the corresponding
structures.
Under its decision, the State Commission for protection of Economic
Competition warns all the dominating entities to withdraw from
unjustified price increase, to review selling prices for goods and
take appropriate measures to prevent uniform prices or anticompetitive
collusion.
In 2006, three major companies on eggs’ market entered into an
anticompetitive collusion and increase the product prices groundlessly
on the New Year’s eve, for which they had to pay penalty constituting
1% of their revenue in the previous year.