YEREVAN, April 14, Noyan Tapan. With support of the OSCE Yerevan's Office the Armenian State Commission on Protection of Economic Competition will carry out the "Anti-Competitive Agreements: Monitoring Rules and Evaluation of Available Methods" program. The program is aimed at improving the Commission's monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and increasing the effectiveness of competition law. The program intends to raise the public awareness of business community, told the chairman of the Commission on Protection of Economic Competition, Ashot Shahnazarian during press-conference on April 9. Sergey Kapinos, the Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, attaching importance to the launch of the program, told to journalists, that the key to the development of economy is in creating equal competition conditions. "It is impossible to establish democracy without ensuring fair competition. We actively and efficiently cooperate with Armenian authorities in this area. Within that period Commission, certainly observed progress, however there is much to be done, " told S.Kapinos. OSCE expert Dr. Ioannis Kokkoris, who Arrived Armenia a week ago, presented his observations. According to him, Armenian laws resemble European ones; simply Armenia's people do not realize the value of competitive market and do not help their government to improve economic competition. According to him, continued monitoring of prices is necessity in the condition of financial crisis, since this measure will enable to ensure a stable competitive environment. In Armenia short and long-term measures should be carried out, which will enable Commission to impose fines on businesses providing misleading information, said the expert. The expert also suggests implementing information campaign to promote the idea of competition. "The pace of economic growth in Armenia depends on competition conditions," told Ioannis Kokkoris, adding that he prepares a comprehensive expert assessment to be submitted to the Commission soon.

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