City LLC Fined 17.6 Million AMD

The State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition of Armenia has imposed a fine of approximately 17.6 million AMD on City LLC and issued a warning to Alex and Holding LLC for abuse of dominant market position. This information was shared by Ani Smbatyan, the press secretary of the commission, on her Facebook page.

Specifically, Smbatyan stated, "The Commission has taken measures against Alex and Holding LLC and City LLC for their abuse of dominant market positions. The fine was imposed following an administrative procedure initiated within the framework of the study of the butter commodity market. The investigation revealed that from July 2018 to April 2020, the conduct of City LLC in the butter circulation sector established discriminatory conditions and created barriers for other economic entities. In particular, City LLC marketed butter sourced from two companies under discriminatory conditions—offering higher profitability and presenting these products in smaller quantities on storefronts, which resulted in significantly reduced sales volumes for those goods."

At the same time, it was noted that the behavior of Alex and Holding LLC in the wholesale butter circulation sector from August 2018 to April 2020 also exhibited discriminatory practices towards businesses operating in the retail circulation sector. This was a result of the company's lack of clear criteria in setting prices for goods. Alex and Holding LLC has been instructed to eliminate these legal violations within one month by establishing clear criteria for pricing and other conditions for goods sales. City LLC has been tasked with resolving these legal breaches within three months after the decision comes into force, also by establishing clear criteria for the acceptance, display, pricing, and other conditions of goods in the commercial network.

You can find the Commission's decision at the following link.