Fines Imposed on 7 Major Companies in the Egg Sales Sector

The State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition of Armenia has imposed fines totaling around 103 million AMD on several significant companies in the chicken egg circulation sector. These companies include 'Lusakert', 'Lusakerti Elite', 'Gntunik', 'Ashtarak Egg', 'Variant Group' LLC, 'Arznu Breeding Factory' joint-stock company, and 'Araks Poultry Farm' closed joint-stock company.

This decision comes after an investigation within the framework of administrative proceedings, where evidence was analyzed and assessed. It was established that these companies had coordinated a periodic decrease in chicken egg sales prices between December 2019 and February 2020. In March 2020, these same businesses agreed to increase prices.

Additionally, from April 1 to August 27, 2020, there were also instances of coordinated pricing behavior, evidenced by simultaneous price decreases and increases. Notably, the price changes implemented by these companies were not due to changes in product costs or other economic factors and were not proportional to any changes in costs.

This violation negatively impacted the competitive environment in the 'Eggs in Shell' market and hindered several small and medium-sized enterprises, leading to the exit of nine small farms from the market.