Main Developments in Competition Law and Policy for 2024 – Georgia

The Georgian Competition and Consumer Agency, also known as the Agency or GCCA, has been operating as an independent competition enforcer for 10 years. This enforcer was created to fulfill an obligation under the 2014 EU Georgia Association Agreement regarding maintaining “an authority that is responsible and appropriately equipped to enforce the competition laws”.

It has undergone significant changes over the past decade along with the national legislation it applies. As the GCCA enters its second decade of operation, this blog post offers a brief overview of its enforcement activities of the past year, discusses important changes in Georgian competition legislation and soft law, and highlights national and international advocacy efforts.[1]

Enforcement Activities

Antitrust

Throughout 2024, the GCCA enforcement activities were characterised by several interesting trends vis-a-vis both Article 6 (abuse of dominance) and Article 7 (anti-competitive agreements) of the Georgian Law on Competition (‘GLC’). The Agency has taken full advantage of the extended investigation period (18 months) provided by Article 25(2) of the GLC

to investigate its complex cases. The GCCA concluded 2024 with a number of large-scale antitrust investigation, some of which began as early as 2023. The only investigation[2] completed in 2024 concerned alleged anti-competitive exclusivity clauses in vertical agreements between international payment card issuers and online discounted hotel and accommodation service providers. The analysis of these vertical contracts revealed no exclusivity. The conclusion that there was no infringement was therefore relatively simple – the investigation concluded within six month. In some cases, however, ongoing investigations require a much more complex legal and economical analysis. Hence, the Agency opted to use extended deadlines to the fullest extent to ensure high-quality assessment.Two additional developments showcase the increased enforcement experience accumulated within the GCCA. The Agency is becoming more efficient in prioritising enforcement resources. In 2024, the Agency dismissed four antitrust cases primarily because the standard of creating reasonable doubt about infringements at the substantive admissibility phase was not met. Second, the enforcer uses its sanctioning power in relation to non-adherence of its information requests during ongoing investigations. In Georgia, the maximum sanction for the first time for non-adherence is 3000 GEL (approx. 1000 EUR), and any subsequent sanction is capped at 5000 GEL. The Agency has used both types in its ongoing major investigation, such as in the case of the Rustavi Automobile Market Ltd, a respondent to an ongoing abuse-of-dominance investigation. The company was fined 3 times

because it did not comply with information requests. The overall sanction amounted to 13 000 GEL (approx 4 330 EUR).[3]Finally, the overview of 2024 enforcement activities reveals that the reputation of the Agency as an efficient enforcer has been growing among Georgian market participants. The case of “Smartli Ltd” is a good example of this growth. The company filed a complaint regarding an alleged abuse in the outdoor advertising industry. During the substantive admissibility phase, the GCCA received a notification[4] that due to the admissibility procedures initiated by the Agency, the issue in question – refusal to deal – was resolved. A resolution of this nature is a positive development, especially given the limited resources of the GCCA. It allows for strengthening the competitive process in Georgian markets without the necessity of full-fledged antitrust investigations.[5] Merger Control

2024 has been quite an active year regarding Merger Control for GCCA. Twenty-three notifications were made on concentrations. Eighteen assessment procedures had been completed by the year 2024. The relevant markets were fast-moving consumer products (FMCG), Cement and education. The FMCG market had the most concentrations. Two cases involving the cement market were referred to a second phase of assessment, and the merging parties agreed to behavioral measures. GCCA assessed eighteen clearance procedures. Seven cases were concluded without prior notification, and one was completed during the investigation. The Agency was able to detect gun jumping cases by deploying an analysis system quarterly of all concentrations registered by National Agency of Public Registry (

). NAPR is a public agency which registers all market concentrations in Georgia. Screening its database regularly is the best method to detect possible gun-jumping. GCCA screened a combined 47 644 transactions in 2024 and found 13 instances of gun-jumping. This exercise led to financial sanctions

of up to 263 9985.09 GEL. 89 486 EU). As GLC does NOT exempt sanctioned undertakings, parties were instructed by the GCCA to submit notifications relating to concentrations. The proactive approach yielded positive results, as most of the notifications led to clearance decisions. The number of notified concentraions has almost tripled between 2023 and 2024.

–Unfair competition and Infringement by State Bodies[6]Compared to other years, enforcement of Articles 10 (infringement by state bodies of competition) and 113 of GLC was reduced in 2024. In 2024, no investigation into Article 10 was completed. As for Article 113 cases, GCCA completed one investigation

in the sector backing soda production. For both articles, 10 complaints were found inadmissible on substantive grounds overall – five concerning alleged breaches of competition by state bodies (public infringements) and the remaining five – unfair competition claims. Finally, GCCA dismissed two additional claims – one regarding public infringements[7]

and another regarding unfair competition

– due to their withdrawal.

It should be noted that dismissing a complaint does not deprive a person of the right to apply to the GCCA on the same subject matter, on the same basis, with the novel request to investigate the issue. Amendments to the Legislation and Soft LawIn 2024, the Government of Georgia amended the by-law on exemptions under Article 9 GLC (equivalent to Article 101(3) TFEU). Principal changes were introduced to the Research and Development chapter of the by-law to bring it closer to best international practices. Additionally, the legal force of the by-law was extended until 31 December 2027, when a more significant overhaul can be expected.Most developments happened in the soft law, especially in the area related to concentration control. In 2024, the GCCA adopted four important guidance documents in this area: Guidance on the notion of concentration

, Guidance on Horizontal

and Non-Horizontal Concentrations

, and Guidance on Structural and Behavioral Remedies in Concentration Control

. The GCCA also adopted Guidance on Dominance/Market Power[8] – a soft law document useful for both abuse and concentration cases. The Agency also adopted Guidance on Dominance/Market Power

– a soft law document useful for both abuse and concentration cases. Competition AdvocacyMarket MonitoringIn 2024, the GCCA completed market monitoring for the hazelnut and blueberry sectors, concluding that both markets were competitive. The Agency continues to monitor the FMCG, auto fuel and tobacco markets. The Agency tries to run five market monitorings simultaneously on average per calendar year. Such monitoring remains one of the most powerful GCCA tools for raising awareness among business circles regarding the importance of market competition and informing consumers about the dynamics of the markets most relevant to them.

International Conference on Competition and Consumer Protection

The III international conference

on competition and consumer protection was held in Tbilisi on November 20-22, 2024. The The The The event featured more than 50 distinguished speakers and welcomed over 300 delegates.The international conference remains the most significant joint effort of GCCA and sectoral regulators to raise awareness about competition issues within the country and showcase its achievements and challenges to the international audience.

EU-Georgia AA, Article 204(2).

The maximum time limit for investigations was prolonged from 10 to 18 months during the legislative amendments of 2020.

For abuse of dominance, inadmissibility concerned the case of Ltd Metromart (https://gcca.gov.ge/uploads_script/decisions/tmp/phpW1CbZv.pdf); for anti-competitive agreements, the inadmissibility concerned cases of Suntrade Ltd (https://gcca.gov.ge/uploads_script/decisions/tmp/phpW1CbZv.pdf

), Delta Development Group Ltd (https://gcca.gov.ge/uploads_script/decisions/tmp/phpRH7MRv.pdf) and ‘Expertise, Construction, Design’ Ltd (https://gcca.gov.ge/uploads_script/decisions/tmp/php0gEvIZ.pdf

).

[1] See https://gcca.gov.ge/uploads_script/decisions/tmp/phpRtCu6z.pdf

[2]; for repeated sanctions, see also https://gcca.gov.ge/index.php?m=352&cat_id=171

[3]. Georgian Law on Competition (GLC), Article 32(1)-(2). See two clearance decisions by the GCCA, both dated by 31 December 2024, at See the overview of GCCA’s 2023 performance at according to which there were only eight notifications during 2023. Ordinance of the Government of Georgia 463, 30.12.2024.

[4]

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