Armenian Minister of Economy Artsvik Minasyan speaking on September 1, 2016 (Photo: mineconomy.am)

YEREVAN (Armenpress)—Armenian Minister of Economy Artsvik Minasyan presented at a conference on Thursday the steps which the Armenian Government is going to take for the fight against monopolies in the near future.

“Today our legislation, unfortunately, does not provide an opportunity to apply effective mechanisms for the fight against monopolies. But this, of course, is not an obstacle for us to take a number of important steps,” he said.

Minasyan said one of the steps is the possible easing of import restrictions and eventually eliminating them. The second is the demolition of the wholesale and retail chain.

The third important step the government must take is to more consistently control the processes of acquiring positions inside the market. He said there are cases in Armenia when a person gains power in the market and ignore the existing legislative requirements. There are no appropriate mechanisms to prevent such actions.

As a main body and responsible for developing this policy, Minasyan formed a team that works towards improving the legislative field. “We are working also with inter-state bodies, such as the State Commission for Protection of Economic Competition, the international structures in order to have a modern legislation. We might not be able to review the legislation completely and make amendments this year, but I am sure by the middle of the next year we will implement it,” Minasyan said.