Wissol Disputes GEL 10.4m Fine Imposed by Competition Agency

Wissol petrol station in Tbilisi, July 16, 2015. Photo: Eana Korbezashvili/Civil.ge

Wissol Petroleum Georgia has rejected price-fixing allegations and said it will use all available legal means to challenge the Competition Agency’s decision on fining them GEL 10.42 million.

The company is among Georgia’s those five largest petrol and diesel fuel retailers, which have been fined total of GEL 51.6 million (about USD 22.7m) for alleged price-fixing.

Competition Agency’s decision can be appealed in the Tbilisi City Court.

PM Irakli Garibashvili said on July 16 that he does not want companies, facing multi-million fine, to become anxious, adding that the “process is completely transparent.”

Four others are SOCAR Georgia Petroleum, which has been fined GEL 14.38m; Sun Petroleum Georgia, operating chain of petrol stations under the Gulf brand, which has been fined GEL 11.26m; Rompetrol Georgia, which has been fined GEL 10.84m, and Lukoil Georgia, which has been fined GEL 4.74m.

“We have not violated any requirement of the Competition Law,” Wissol Petroleum Georgia said in a statement on July 16.

“Before taking decision on this issue, a concluding session was held at the Competition Agency on July 8, 2015 with the participation of all the parties involved during which we presented to the Agency our objective, professional position, backed by arguments. Regrettably the Agency has not shared any of our objective argument,” it said.

“We disagree with the opinion laid out in this decision of the Agency and, naturally, we will try to prove our truth through all the available legal means,” Wissol said in a statement, which also says that the company remains committed to competition rules and regulations.

The company is part of one of Georgia’s largest business groups, Wissol, which apart from retail and wholesale of fuel also runs car service chain; construction and real estate businesses; supermarket, and fast food restaurant chains. Brothers Levan and Samson Pkhakadze are holders of majority stakes in the group.

SOCAR Georgia Petroleum, where Azerbaijani state company SOCAR holds 51% of shares, and Rompetrol Georgia, controlled by the Kazakh state oil company KazMunaiGas, said they are studying Competition Agency’s decision and would make statements later. Sun Petroleum Georgia, affiliated with Petrocas Energy Group, where 49% of stakes is owned by Russia’s state-owned oil producer Rosneft, said it would release a statement on July 17. Representatives from the Lukoil Georgia, subsidiary of Russian oil producer Lukoil, were not available for comment.

Commenting on multi-million fines imposed by the Competition Agency, PM Irakli Garibashvili said at a government session on July 16, that the companies can dispute the decision in the court.

“This is completely transparent process,” he said. “I do not want the companies to get anxious.”

“We should promote development of competition in Georgia once and for all. This is our direct obligation to protect our citizens, consumers, as well as the interests of companies. But we should promote healthy competition. This is one of the commitments undertaken by us under the Association Agreement and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the EU. I think that this is completely transparent process. If the companies have any complaint, the dispute will continue in court and the government does not interfere in this process,” PM Garibashvili said.

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