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STATE COMMISSION FOR PROTECTION OF ECONOMIC COMPETITION FINDS NO CHEESE PRICE FIXING
/ARKA/
December 3, 2010
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, December 3, /ARKA/. Armenia's state anti-trust regulator
said today it found no evidence proving that local dairy companies
acted in collusion to raise drastically prices of cheese in September
and October.
The State Commission for Protection of Economic Competition (SCPEC) had
to open a formal inquiry into a drastic rise in the prices of cheese
after the retail cost of various types of locally produced cheese,
a staple food consumed by most Armenians on a virtually daily basis,
had jumped by between 30 and 40 percent for unknown reasons.
Speaking today at a news conference, head of SCPEC, Artak Shaboyan,
said the study has nonetheless found that the drastic rise was not
fully justified. Earlier agriculture minister Gerasim Alaverdian
blamed the surge in prices on a seasonal drop in milk production and
increased exports of Armenian cheese, however these explanations were
denied strongly by consumer groups saying the rise was a price fixing
by leading dairy firms.
But according to Artak Shaboyan, the SCPEC had examined 16 of 78
dairy firms in the country to have found that 33% of the market was
held by Ashtarak Kat company, 6/1% by Dustr Melania, 5.3% by Araks-2
and 55.8% by other companies. He said Ashtrak Kat was the first to
raise the prices in September and the rest followed suit.
"This company, according to the law, is not dominating at the market,
nonetheless it has a substantial impact on the processes at it. The
company has risen the price of one kg of cheese by 815 Drams (more
than $2.5) to 3000 Drams,' Shaboyan said, adding that all factors
like rise of prices of milk, unfavorable climatic conditions and the
reducing number of cows all have played a role, but the rise should
not have gone beyond 80 Drams.
He said after the major study the SCPEC concluded that there was no
price fixing because the firms did nor rise the prices simultaneously.
He said also that cheese prices began o fall from November 19 and
have dropped by 40-500 Drams.
From: A. Papazian
/ARKA/
December 3, 2010
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, December 3, /ARKA/. Armenia's state anti-trust regulator
said today it found no evidence proving that local dairy companies
acted in collusion to raise drastically prices of cheese in September
and October.
The State Commission for Protection of Economic Competition (SCPEC) had
to open a formal inquiry into a drastic rise in the prices of cheese
after the retail cost of various types of locally produced cheese,
a staple food consumed by most Armenians on a virtually daily basis,
had jumped by between 30 and 40 percent for unknown reasons.
Speaking today at a news conference, head of SCPEC, Artak Shaboyan,
said the study has nonetheless found that the drastic rise was not
fully justified. Earlier agriculture minister Gerasim Alaverdian
blamed the surge in prices on a seasonal drop in milk production and
increased exports of Armenian cheese, however these explanations were
denied strongly by consumer groups saying the rise was a price fixing
by leading dairy firms.
But according to Artak Shaboyan, the SCPEC had examined 16 of 78
dairy firms in the country to have found that 33% of the market was
held by Ashtarak Kat company, 6/1% by Dustr Melania, 5.3% by Araks-2
and 55.8% by other companies. He said Ashtrak Kat was the first to
raise the prices in September and the rest followed suit.
"This company, according to the law, is not dominating at the market,
nonetheless it has a substantial impact on the processes at it. The
company has risen the price of one kg of cheese by 815 Drams (more
than $2.5) to 3000 Drams,' Shaboyan said, adding that all factors
like rise of prices of milk, unfavorable climatic conditions and the
reducing number of cows all have played a role, but the rise should
not have gone beyond 80 Drams.
He said after the major study the SCPEC concluded that there was no
price fixing because the firms did nor rise the prices simultaneously.
He said also that cheese prices began o fall from November 19 and
have dropped by 40-500 Drams.
From: A. Papazian