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PM: ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO DO WHATEVER NECESSARY TO IMPROVE COMPETITION ENVIRONMENT IN COUNTRY
ARKA
Oct 13, 2011
YEREVAN, October 13. /ARKA/. Armenian government will make every
effort to improve competition environment in the country, Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan said Thursday at a regular Cabinet meeting.
"Economic competition is very important to us for handling the 2012
government budget," he said. "If we manage to ensure just competition,
we'll have higher economic growth."
The government, he said, worked out legislative changes in 2010 and
2011 under international organizations' support. These changes allowed
the government to provide the State Commission for Protection of
Economic Competition with additional powers for improving market. As
a result, the commission tripled fines. At the same time, the
premier noted that fines can be considered effective if they lessen
irregularities.
"Are fines really improving competitive environment, or they only
displeased fine payers?" he said. "It is very important to us to
spur competition. We gave additional levers to the commission and
are ready to give also other powers, if we see that these instruments
serve its direct goal - improvement of competitive environment."
The antitrust commission has made 86 decisions over nine months
of 2011 and levied fines totaling AMD 230 million. Of this amount,
AMD 150 million has already transferred to the government budget.
Amendments to the law on protection of economic competition took
force in May 2011. The amended law allows the government to give some
additional powers to the antitrust commission. The amendments also
tightened sanctions against wrongdoers.
ARKA
Oct 13, 2011
YEREVAN, October 13. /ARKA/. Armenian government will make every
effort to improve competition environment in the country, Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan said Thursday at a regular Cabinet meeting.
"Economic competition is very important to us for handling the 2012
government budget," he said. "If we manage to ensure just competition,
we'll have higher economic growth."
The government, he said, worked out legislative changes in 2010 and
2011 under international organizations' support. These changes allowed
the government to provide the State Commission for Protection of
Economic Competition with additional powers for improving market. As
a result, the commission tripled fines. At the same time, the
premier noted that fines can be considered effective if they lessen
irregularities.
"Are fines really improving competitive environment, or they only
displeased fine payers?" he said. "It is very important to us to
spur competition. We gave additional levers to the commission and
are ready to give also other powers, if we see that these instruments
serve its direct goal - improvement of competitive environment."
The antitrust commission has made 86 decisions over nine months
of 2011 and levied fines totaling AMD 230 million. Of this amount,
AMD 150 million has already transferred to the government budget.
Amendments to the law on protection of economic competition took
force in May 2011. The amended law allows the government to give some
additional powers to the antitrust commission. The amendments also
tightened sanctions against wrongdoers.