Competition Agency: “no risks” of natural, liquid gas markets violating competition law

The natural and liquid gas markets in Georgia are “compatible” with competitive environment and there are “no risks” of violations of competition legislation by actors in them, the Georgian Competition and Consumer Agency said on Wednesday after publishing the results of its 2019-2022 monitoring of the market.

The Agency said the natural and liquid gas markets had not had a single dominant economic player, and there was “no indication of group dominance”. 

The concentration index of the market, which considers the share of large companies, the number of small companies operating in the market, and their total percentage share, is characterised by a tendency to decrease”, it said.

The results of the monitoring showed the changes in the price of both liquid and natural gas in the retail market were determined by market factors. Moreover, the change in retail price was found to be correlated with the main factor influencing it.

Findings of the retail market for natural gas shows:

• In 2019 a total of 97 companies (134 gas stations) purchased natural gas for automobiles in the amount of ₾188 million ($70.82mln) - 192,628,000m3 
• In 2020 - 96 companies (143 gas stations) purchased natural gas for automobiles in the amount of ₾118 million ($44.45mln) - 147,893,000m3
• In 2021 - 95 companies (127 gas stations) purchased natural gas for automobiles in the amount of ₾119 million ($44.83mln) - 160,065,000m3
• In 2022 - 88 companies (128 gas stations) purchased natural gas for automobiles in the amount of ₾169 million ($63.66mln) - 190,789,000m3 

According to the assessment of the liquid gas market, the following information has been collected:

• 2019 - 36 undertakings imported 24,402,640 kg of gas, worth ₾41 million ($15.45mln)
• 2020 - 53 undertakings imported 28,534,834 kg of gas, worth ₾51 million ($19.21mln)
• 2021 - 89 undertakings imported 35,266,142 kg of gas, worth ₾91 million ($34.28mln)
• 2022 - 58 undertakings imported 42,274,714 kg of gas, worth ₾80 million ($30.14mln)

As for the retail market, the following data has been recorded:

• In 2020 133 companies operating in the liquid gas market bought 29,840,303 kg of gas 2021 - 131 companies bought 17,095,920 kg of gas
• 2022 - 120 companies bought 23,508,212 kg of gas

The Agency said there was “no reason” to continue monitoring the natural and liquid gas markets based on the results of the latest study.