In the last few years, we have observed competition violations by global bigtech companies in Azerbaijan, Mammad Abbasbeyli, Head of the State Service for Antimonopoly and Consumer Market Control under the Ministry of Economy, said in his interview with the OECD Regional Center for Competition, Report informs.

“A relatively small market capacity also has its own complexities, as achieving compliance by global companies with our regulations at times becomes an issue. Unfortunately, establishing communications and forcing them into collaboration has not proven fruitful,” Abbasbeyli said.

According to him, the commitment of the State Service to effective planning and resource allocation remains a key strategy in mitigating any potential obstacles: “One of the key strengths of our authority is the history of the State Service, the history of competition regulations in Azerbaijan that started in 1993, shortly after we gained independence. The data and expertise accumulated during these years have helped us deal with competition regulation. Careful identification of competition obstacles in the market allows us to take more accurate measures to ensure fair competition. As a limited budget often forms an obstacle to the smooth running of any agency, it can also be considered a main area of concern for the State Service. As competition awareness rises, our workload increases proportionately, thus requiring additional resources.”