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Ombudsman paints dim portrait of antitrust enforcement by the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition

By  |  March 29, 2012

Armenian Ombudsman Karen Andreasyan has assessed the 2011 activities of the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition. The report states that overall, antitrust enforcement is unsatisfactory in Armenia. Andreasyan points to the fact that 12 out of 13 commodities markets were rated as highly concentrated by the Commission, with high entry barriers in those markets. Yet “the measures taken by the Commission did not reflect the real picture of violations of the competitive legislation existing in different commodity markets and did not make sufficient influence on the situation of the protection of economic competition in the country.”

Andreasyan also found fault in how decisions by the watchdog failed to be enforced during the pendency of an appeal, a period that may last as long as two years. Powers of investigation and measures to raise public awareness were also found to be lacking.

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