On April 10-12, 2019, in cooperation with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, CLDP organized a workshop in Tbilisi, Georgia for officials from the Competition Agency of Georgia on identifying and preventing abuse of dominance. The three-day workshop included discussions of the following priority topics for the Competition Agency: assessing market power; analyzing discrete forms of abuse of dominance, including exclusive dealing, predatory pricing and essential facilities; utilizing best practices in investigation and enforcement; and identifying abuse of dominance in the telecom and financial services sectors. A stakeholders meeting on the first day of the workshop provided an opportunity for exchange between the Competition Agency, sectoral regulators, and representatives of the private sector. Discussion at the stakeholders meeting focused on gaps in the legal framework that hinder the enforcement of Georgia’s competition law and the role of interagency communication in abuse of dominance investigations.

This workshop was part of a multi-phase effort by CLDP to assist the Competition Agency with combating anticompetitive behavior. Preventing abuse of dominance is a critical aspect of competition enforcement in Georgia due to high levels of concentration in major sectors of the economy including the pharmaceutical, telecom, and financial services sectors. These high levels of concentration can lead to exploitative and exclusionary conduct by dominant undertakings that harms consumers and competition.