YEREVAN. – The World Bank (WB) assessment on the monopolization of Armenia has methodological problems.

Artak Shaboyan, Chairman of the Armenian State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition (ASCPEC), stated the aforementioned at a press conference on Friday. 

Reflecting on the recent WB report, Shaboyan noted that this report was not provided to and discussed with them. 

“The makers of the report point out that the degree of monopolization of Armenia’s economy is higher than the other CIS countries. We do not agree with these assessments. There are some methodological problems in the study.

“Specifically, the WB specialists studied the competitive situation in thirty sectors of our economy. But the degree of monopoly is very low in sixteen [sectors], and the state of their competitiveness is quite high,” the ASCPEC head stated.         

As per Shaboyan, several markets where the state regulates the markets, and the licensed activity domains are natural monopolies.

Lastly, and due the large investment required, the number of businesses is objectively limited in several sectors.

All these sectors have a large share in Armenia’s economy, and it is incorrect to proportionally calculate the high concentration of economy to this share, Shaboyan added.  

He noted that the WB report also reflects on the Competitiveness Index, which the World Economic Forum has issued, and that Armenia is a leading CIS country in the respective indicators.