1. What is antimonopoly control?

Antimonopoly control involves identifying and addressing monopolistic and anti-competitive practices by businesses in dominant market positions. It includes taking legal action when violations of the law are found. Additionally, legal measures are applied to businesses, even if they are not in dominant positions if they attempt to establish cartel-like relationships through horizontal or vertical agreements or restrict competition in the market through mergers and share transactions.

2. What are common cases of antimonopoly violations?

• Cartel agreements;
• Price manipulation;
• Creation of exclusive sales networks;
• Imposing unjustified price controls on goods produced or sold;
• Setting unjustified customs duties or exemptions;
• Granting unjustified tax or credit benefits, or imposing unjustified bans on production and foreign economic activities;
• Reducing production or removing products from circulation to create artificial shortages or raise prices;
• Refusing to sell or purchase products to discriminate between businesses;
• Reducing or suspending lending to create or maintain an artificial scarcity of credit resources or increase credit rates;
• Refusing to admit competition or auction winners/

You can find here a complete list of antimonopoly violations.

3. What is the antimonopoly control activity of the State Service for Antimonopoly and Consumer Market Control?

The State Service for Antimonopoly and Consumer Market Control performs the following activities:

• Oversees compliance with antimonopoly legislation through state control;
• Takes action to prevent, limit, and eliminate monopolistic activities, holding violators accountable;
• Grants approval, in accordance with antimonopoly laws, for the creation, reorganization, and liquidation of legal entities (including state and municipal entities), as well as for contracts between individuals and businesses and the purchase and sale of shares;
• If merger operations of business entities create a monopoly, takes action to prevent it, and when such operations are conducted, grants consent in accordance with antimonopoly laws;
• Identifies and eliminates cartel agreements;
• Addresses cases where agreements or contracts between businesses, executive authorities, or local self-government bodies and foreign entities result in restricted competition in the domestic market;
• Monitors relevant commodity and service markets to prevent monopolization, market allocation, or price-fixing agreements that drive price increases;
• Can mandate the compulsory division of dominant businesses exhibiting monopolistic activity or restricting competition, provided organizational, technological, and territorial conditions allow;
• Appeals to the court if decisions regarding violations of antimonopoly laws are not implemented.

4. How to apply to the State Service regarding violation of antimonopoly legislation?

You can report a violation of antimonopoly legislation to the State Service as follows:

• Electronically via the "Application, complaint, proposal" subsection of the "Application" section on the official website: www.competition.gov.az (https://competition.gov.az/az/page/muraciet/erize-sikayet-teklif);
• Email: Send the necessary documents to the email address: office@competition.gov.az;
• Call Center: Contact the Call Center at 195-1;
• In person: Visit the State Service at the following address: Baku, Sabail District, Uzeyir Hajibeyov Street 84, Government House, Gate 7

Required documents for the application:

• The application must be submitted in writing, include information about the applicant and the party being complained about, describe the violation of antimonopoly legislation, and state the nature of the applicant's demands.
• Original documents or certified copies confirming the violation must be submitted.

Note: Documents in foreign languages must be submitted with a certified translation into Azerbaijani.