ARMENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Hayk Hovhannisyan and Tachat Voskanyan, HAP
entity may have an impact on the competitive situation in a goods market in the RA; • any deal, action, reorganisation, or behaviour by companies that could directly or indirectly affect another company’s decisions, com - petitiveness, or the competitive situation in Armenia’s market must be declared; and • establishment of a legal person in the RA by more than one economic entity, which will act as an independent economic entity. Furthermore, under Article 13(8) of the same law, within the meaning of this Law, concentration shall take place: • in the same goods market (horizontal concen - tration); • in different goods markets having certain interrelation (vertical concentration); and • in different goods markets (mixed concentra - tion). Thus, a merger or consolidation of economic entities will not be considered a concentration unless it falls into one of these three categories. According to Article 15 of the Law, the concen - tration of economic entities shall, before being put into effect, be subject to declaration if any of the following criteria are met: • concentration must be declared if the total asset value of the parties or the asset value of at least one party exceeds 3 billion drams at the time of submission or in the previous financial year, as set by the Commission; • concentration must be declared if the total revenue of the parties exceeds 4 billion drams or if the revenue of at least one party exceeds 3 billion drams in the previous financial year; • if the parties did not operate in the previous financial year or operated for less than 12
months, a concentration must be declared if their total revenue or the revenue of at least one party in the last 12 months exceeds 4 bil - lion drams; and • at least one of the parties to the concentra - tion has a dominant position in a goods market in the RA. It is important to note that The Commission shall prohibit the concentration subject to declaration, where: • according to the results of studies by the Commission, the concentration would result in prevention, restriction, blocking or other - wise worsening of the economic competition in the relevant goods market; or • according to the results of studies of the Commission, the concentration would result in the establishment or strengthening of a dominant position; or • according to the results of studies by the Commission, the concentration would harm the consumer interests; or • concentration must be declared if a party fails to provide essential information needed by the Commission to assess its market impact, and this information cannot be obtained from other sources. In this context, a significant example of con - centration involved “Fedilco Group Limited” acquiring 100% of the shares of “MTS Arme- nia” CJSC. The Commission initially rejected the first application but later approved the con - centration following a second review. Another notable case was the concentration between “Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine” CJSC and “Makur Yerkat Factory” OJSC. On 30 April 2024, the Commission issued Decision No. 174-A, rejecting concentration. However, after “Makur Yerkat Factory” OJSC filed a complaint,
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