State Body Funded by Taxpayer Money Misinforms Armenian Consumers Again

Yesterday, the Competition Protection Commission of the Republic of Armenia released two statements regarding the sugar market, attempting to refute what people have witnessed. This was noted by Suren Paryan, the head of the Economic Research Office of the ARF Bureau.

He specifically mentioned, “In particular, the Competition Commission concluded from its study that there is a sufficient amount of sugar in the market and that certain supermarkets and shops did not have artificial shortages or restrictions, and the prices have not increased. Unfortunately, this state body, funded by taxpayers’ money, is misleading Armenian consumers once again, catering to the interests of oligarchs.”

He provided specific facts:

“First, the Competition Commission states in its announcement that they have only studied the unpackaged (by weight) sugar market and recorded that sugar was sold for 370 drams in supermarket chains. However, in reality, the consumers who reported this issue have mainly not had the opportunity to purchase unpackaged sugar, as it simply wasn’t available at sales outlets. This is despite the fact that a sufficient quantity of unpackaged sugar was reportedly in warehouses. Meanwhile, sugar packaged in 5 kg bags was sold at 1 kg for 445 drams. The Competition Commission did not even determine whether the prices for packaged sugar had changed during this time. In the absence of unpackaged sugar, people have been forced to buy expensive packaged sugar, with certain restrictions.”

“Second, to spread panic among the public and reap excessive profits, the same supermarkets limited the purchase of packaged sugar (since unpackaged sugar was simply unavailable), allowing consumers to buy no more than 5 kg at a time. Under these restrictive conditions, people do not pay attention to the price; they simply buy and rush home. Notably, the Competition Commission does not deny that there were quantitative restrictions (artificial shortages) in certain supermarkets, which have now been lifted.”

“According to the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, supermarkets and stores generally do not have the right to impose artificial restrictions and later lift those restrictions. According to Article 7, Part 2, Subparagraph g of the Law on the Protection of Economic Competition, the unreasonable reduction of imported or produced goods to the detriment of consumer interests, through the retention, spoilage, or destruction of goods, constitutes the creation or preservation of a shortage in the commodity market. This means that large supermarkets that applied restrictions (hoarding sugar) have evidently violated competition legislation.”