Administrative Court Confirms Anti-Competitive Agreement in Chicken Egg Market

The Administrative Court has rejected the lawsuit of " Lusakert " LLC in a ruling dated April 7, 2022, reaffirming the legality of the stance expressed in the decision No. 368-A of the Competition Protection Commission dated December 15, 2020, as reported by the Commission.

It should be noted that the Commission classified the coordinated actions and behavior of the following companies as anti-competitive agreements: "Variant Group," "Lusakert," "Lusakert Elite," "Gntunik," "Ashtarak Egg" LLC, the open joint-stock company "Arzno Breeding LLC," and the closed joint-stock company "Araks Poultry Factory." These actions involved unjustified lowering and raising of chicken egg sales prices between December 2019 and August 2020 and created obstacles for other economic entities to enter the market or forced them out of the market.

The fines imposed on the companies were as follows: 11,310,112 AMD for "Lusakert" LLC, 50,767,227 AMD for "Araks Poultry Factory," 12,951,952 AMD for "Arzno Breeding LLC," 13,767,522 AMD for "Ashtarak Egg" LLC, 3,918,095 AMD for "Gntunik" LLC, 8,138,392 AMD for "Lusakert Elite" LLC, and 2,016,286 AMD for "Variant Group" LLC.

Additionally, it is worth mentioning that "Gntunik" LLC did not appeal the Commission's decision, while the Administrative Court has yet to make rulings on the lawsuits of the other companies.