Head of Armenia’s antitrust agency invites Carrefour representatives for talk

YEREVAN, March 19. /ARKA/. Artak Shaboyan, chairman of the State Commission for Protection of Economic Competition, told journalists today that he is inviting representatives of Carrefour, a prominent French retailer, to discuss obstacles on its way to Armenia’s market. 

“If the company has problems at this market, then I invite publicly representatives of the company for a close look into the problem… It will be an unofficial conversation,” he said. 

Shaboyan said that if there are sufficient information and facts related to the matter, the commission will be ready to sort through the obstacles. 

“Now we have as much information as the media,” he said. “If representatives of Carrefour give us specific additional information, point out what is wrong, we’ll try to put things right… Carrefour is a global network known across the world, and I don’t think that something can deter it from raising any issue.”

Shaboyan also added that the antitrust agency sees no difference between domestic and foreign economic entities. 

“If there are competition problems, I assure you that we will solve all the problems regardless of whether this economic entity resident or nonresident…” he said. 

Earlier, media outlets reported that Samvel Karapetyan, a Russian entrepreneur of Armenian descent, who was ranked 353rd by Forbes, and the owner of Dalma Garden Mall that is included in Tashir Group, suspended its contract with Carrefour.    

According to the newspapers, the move was prompted by strong opposition from Samvel Alexanyan, an Armenian entrepreneur who imports essential commodities in the country and at whose business Carrefour’s appearance here might strike hard. 

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said the government will do whatever it can to ensure Carrefour’s arrival here, since Armenia is interested in this. 

Commenting on the rumors going around about the contract suspension, the premier told journalists referring to the company’s spokesmen that this is a memorandum on intent, not a contract, and that there is some discord between the parties. 

 

Economy Minister Tigran Davtyan, on his side, said that delay here is connected with problems between the parties and that there is nothing extraordinary in it. 

Carrefour S.A. is a French multinational retailer headquartered in Boulogne Billancourt, France, in Greater Paris. It is one of the largest hypermarket chains in the world (with 1,395 hypermarkets at the end of 2009), the second largest retail group in the world in terms of revenue, and the third largest in profit (after Wal-Mart and Tesco). Carrefour operates mainly in Europe, Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, but also has shops in North Africa and other parts of Asia. It has 400,000 employees. -0-