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State Commission For Protection Of Economic Competition Finds No Che

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  • State Commission For Protection Of Economic Competition Finds No Che

    STATE COMMISSION FOR PROTECTION OF ECONOMIC COMPETITION FINDS NO CHEESE PRICE FIXING

    /ARKA/
    December 3, 2010
    YEREVAN

    YEREVAN, December 3, /ARKA/. Armenia's state anti-trust regulator
    said today it found no evidence proving that local dairy companies
    acted in collusion to raise drastically prices of cheese in September
    and October.

    The State Commission for Protection of Economic Competition (SCPEC) had
    to open a formal inquiry into a drastic rise in the prices of cheese
    after the retail cost of various types of locally produced cheese,
    a staple food consumed by most Armenians on a virtually daily basis,
    had jumped by between 30 and 40 percent for unknown reasons.

    Speaking today at a news conference, head of SCPEC, Artak Shaboyan,
    said the study has nonetheless found that the drastic rise was not
    fully justified. Earlier agriculture minister Gerasim Alaverdian
    blamed the surge in prices on a seasonal drop in milk production and
    increased exports of Armenian cheese, however these explanations were
    denied strongly by consumer groups saying the rise was a price fixing
    by leading dairy firms.

    But according to Artak Shaboyan, the SCPEC had examined 16 of 78
    dairy firms in the country to have found that 33% of the market was
    held by Ashtarak Kat company, 6/1% by Dustr Melania, 5.3% by Araks-2
    and 55.8% by other companies. He said Ashtrak Kat was the first to
    raise the prices in September and the rest followed suit.

    "This company, according to the law, is not dominating at the market,
    nonetheless it has a substantial impact on the processes at it. The
    company has risen the price of one kg of cheese by 815 Drams (more
    than $2.5) to 3000 Drams,' Shaboyan said, adding that all factors
    like rise of prices of milk, unfavorable climatic conditions and the
    reducing number of cows all have played a role, but the rise should
    not have gone beyond 80 Drams.

    He said after the major study the SCPEC concluded that there was no
    price fixing because the firms did nor rise the prices simultaneously.

    He said also that cheese prices began o fall from November 19 and
    have dropped by 40-500 Drams.




    From: A. Papazian
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