Sectoral study is Commission’s toolkit to find out the competitive situation in any sector or goods market.
The Commission shall conduct a sectoral study in any sector or goods market or area to find out the competitive situation, detect cases of possible prevention, restriction, blocking of the economic competition and/or causing possible harm to the consumer interests, disclose other conditions affecting the competitive situation.
While selecting the sector or goods market, the Commission takes into account:
- high degree of centralization;
- risk of violations of competition legislation;
- social significance of goods and interrelated goods;
- other circumstances.
Sectoral studies shall be conducted by the decision of the Commission on conducting a sectoral study, which prescribes the sector or sectors under study and the time limit for conducting a study.
Within the framework of a sectoral study, the Commission shall, where necessary:
- specify the range of goods and geographical boundaries of the goods market;
- determine the composition of actors of a goods market, volumes of the goods market, shares of economic entities, degree of centralization of the goods market;
- study relevant legal acts;
- identify whether there are obstacles to the entry into the goods market;
- study other circumstances related to the sector or goods market, which may allow drawing inferences about the general competitive situation, cases of possible prevention, restriction, blocking of the economic competition and/or causing possible harm to the consumer interests.
The results of the sectoral study shall be approved by the decision of the Commission.
The results of sectoral study may serve as a ground for initiating the proceedings in relation to the identified problems in the field, as well as for submitting proposals for legislative reforms.
The purpose of issuing opinions on the issues relating to the protection of economic competition is to clarify the issue whether it restricts the economic competition and/or harms the consumer interests, as well as on other issues relating to the protection of economic competition before performing the relevant action, concluding the transaction or adopting the legal act.
Before performing the relevant action, concluding the transaction or adopting the legal act, the following persons shall have the right to apply the Commission on the issues relating to the protection of economic competition:
- state bodies, officials thereof;
- economic entities;
- in case of regulatory legal act – the state body or the official thereof having the power to adopt it.
In case an application complying with the requirements prescribed for obtaining an opinion on issues relating to the economic competition is received, or the Commission shows initiative, the Commission shall render a decision on initiating a procedure for issuing an opinion on issues relating to the economic competition.
The opinion on issues relating to the economic competition shall be issued within a period of one month from the day the decision of the Commission on initiating a procedure therefor is rendered.
Upon a reasoned decision of the Commission, the time limit for providing an opinion on issues relating to the economic competition may be extended to up to one month.
(For detailed information see Article 60 of RA law “On Protection of Economic Competition”).
cThe opinion of the Commission on issues relating to the economic competition, except for the case of issuing thereof with respect to a draft regulatory legal act, shall be binding, and failure to be guided thereby may serve as a ground for initiating proceedings on the offence in the field of economic competition.
The application for obtaining an opinion on issues of an action, a transaction or a legal act (except for a regulatory legal act) relating to the economic competition is submitted to the Commission.
The application shall be submitted via electronic platform of the Commission.
The application shall also be submitted:
- via the Commission’s e-mail (info@competition.am);
- via Unified portal for online requests;
- in a hard copy.
It is necessary to fill in the form of the application submitted below, sign it, attach the necessary materials and submit it to the Commission.
(For detailed information see Article 59 of RA law “On protection of economic competition”).
