Relevant legislation and statutory standards

One of the main achievements of economic reform in Armenia has been the adoption of the Law of the Republic of Armenia on Protection of Economic Competition (‘the Law’ or ‘the 2000 Law’). The Law was adopted by the National Assembly on 6 November 2000 and ratified by the President of the Republic of Armenia on 5 December 2000. The initiative for the current competition legislation came from the Government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (now the Ministry of Economy). The work on the drafting continued for 2 years and involved close collaboration between the Ministry and the relevant European Union (EU) representative office. It is worth noting that Armenia has no separate law on merger regulation and that all procedures concerning merger control (‘concentrations’) are regulated by the Law.

The primary legal bases for competition legislation in Armenia are the following:

• The Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA) between Armenia and the Member States of the European Community (EU), which entered into force on 1 July 1999. The PCA explicitly provides for legislative co-operation between the parties, among other things, in the field of competition. It envisages approximation of the legislation of Armenia with that of the EU.

• The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, Article 8 stipulates that the ‘Republic of Armenia guarantees freedom of economic activity and free economic competition’.

• The Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia, Article 12, prohibits restriction of competition by the way of exercising civil rights.

• The main objectives of the Law on the Protection of Economic Competition are the ‘protection and promotion of economic competition, provision of the appropriate environment for fair competition, for the development of entrepreneurship and protection of consumer rights’.