Armenian anti-monopoly authority reveals collusion of fuel sellers and issues fines for more than AMD 1bn

YEREVAN, 13 December. /ARKA/. Four large companies in Armenia engaged in petrol sale have been fined over AMD 1 billion for anti-competitive agreement, the Commission for Protection of Competition reported today.

CPS Energy Group, Flash, Mega Trade, Max Oil and Kamoil companies were fined AMD 392.5 million, AMD 324.1 million, AMD 206.2 million and AMD 155.6 million respectively.

According to the Commission for Protection of Competition, between 1 January 2022 and 10 June 2024, these companies changed prices in the same way despite the fact that their costs differed significantly from each other.

The companies' indirect anticompetitive contractual behaviour was most evident in November-December 2022 and September-October 2023.

At the same time, on the same day or with an interval of up to two days, retail selling prices of AI-92 petrol were increased and decreased, while their costs differed from each other,’ the Commission said.

Moreover, there were cases when the decrease in the cost was combined with an increase in the sale price and vice versa.

According to the latest official statistics, in Armenia, petrol in November 2024 compared to November 2023, fell in price by 6% and diesel fuel by 9.9%, while compared to October of the same year, prices fell by 0.7% and 0.9%, respectively. -0-