Which agreement, decision, and concerted practicerestrict competition?

An agreement, decision, and concerted practice are considered restrictive if they result from or are intended to restrict, prevent and/or prohibit competition in the relevant market and which may include:

A) direct (indirect) determination (fixing) of the purchase or sale price or other trading conditions;

B) restrictions on production, market, technological development, or investment;

C) share markets or sources of supply by customer, location or other characteristics;

D) impose different conditions on certain identical transactions for certain trading partners, thus putting them in a non-competitive position;

E) setting an additional condition/obligation for a party while entering into a transaction that has no substantive or commercial connection with the subject of the transaction.

What are the legal consequences of a restrictive competition agreement, decision, or concerted practice?

It is prohibited to enter into a contract, make a decision or take a concerted practice resulted in restricting competition. Accordingly, an agreement concluded, a decision made or practice  taken contrary to the prohibition is void, besides the exceptions provided for by the Law of Georgia on Competition.

What are the exceptions by the Law of Georgia on Competition?

The prohibition of a restrictive agreement, decision, and concerted practice does not apply in the case of a minor distortion of competition (De Minimis).

Cases of minor distortion  of competition are determined by the Law of Georgia on Competition.

The prohibition of a restrictive contract, decision, or concerted practice may also not apply to an agreement that promotes improved production and/or supply and technical-economic progress while ensuring the well-being of the customer.

Sanctions

Concluding a contract, making a decision, or taking concerted practice ended in restricting competition will result in fines for the relevant undertakings  under the Law of Georgia on Competition.