Price Fixing and Restrictive Agreements
Price fixing is a prohibited practice under the Law of Georgia on Competition. Under Article 7, it is prohibited for economic agents, or within the framework of an association of economic agents, to conclude an agreement, adopt a decision or carry out a concerted action the purpose or effect of which is the restriction, prevention or prohibition of competition on the relevant market. The first sub-item of this article names precisely the price-related prohibited form: the direct or indirect fixing of purchase or sale prices or of other trading terms.
The law also names other forms of prohibited agreements: the limitation of production, markets, technological development or investments; the allocation of markets or sources of supply by customer, territorial or other criteria; the application of different conditions to identical transactions with certain trading partners, thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage; and the imposition of a supplementary condition for concluding a transaction which has no substantive or commercial connection with its subject matter. Under the second point of the article, a prohibited agreement is void unless the exceptions established by this law apply to it — an agreement on prices therefore has no legal force at all.
The Timetable and Course of the Investigation
The investigation begins after the agency adopts a decision to open the case, and the agency adopts its decision within no more than 6 months. Taking into account the importance and complexity of the case, the agency may, by its own decision, extend the investigation up to 18 months; the parties are notified of the extension no later than 10 working days before the expiry of the term. If, after the opening of the investigation and before the draft decision is sent to the parties, the complainant withdraws the complaint, the investigation is terminated — unless justified evidence exists that competition is significantly restricted.
Before the final decision is adopted, a concluding session is held so that the applicant and the party may present their positions. Before the session, the agency sends them the draft final decision and the case materials in writing, and explains that they have the right to present their positions and additional information; the period fixed for this may not be less than 25 working days, and information submitted after its expiry may be disregarded by the agency. Before the adoption of the draft final decision, the respondent economic agent may propose to the agency the acceptance of a conditional undertaking to carry out specific actions aimed at eliminating the alleged violation; if the agency accepts the undertaking and the risk of the alleged violation no longer exists, it adopts its decision without assessing the facts. Failure to perform the conditional undertaking entails a fine and the resumption of the investigation.