The key international obligations of the Kyrgyz Republic are contained in the following international treaties to which the Kyrgyz Republic is a party:
- Agreement on conformed antimonopoly policy (among the CIS members) dated, 12th March 1993;
- Agreement on conformed antimonopoly policy (among the CIS members) dated, 25th January 2000;
- Agreement on creating the Economic Union dated, 24th September 1993;
- Agreement on creating the Unified economic area among the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, dated 30th April 1994;
- Agreement on the Custom Union and the Unified economic area dated, 26th February 1999;
- Agreement on main directions of collaboration between the CIS members in the area of protection of consumers rights dated, 25th January 2000;
- Convention on the protection of rights of investors, dated 28th March 1997;
- other, including bilateral treaties with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russian Federation, European Union, Moldova, etc.
The principal competition and antimonopoly laws and Government resolutions are as follows:
Codes of the Kyrgyz Republic:
- Code of Administrative Liability of the Kyrgyz Republic, dated 14th August 1998;
- Civil Code of the Kyrgyz Republic (part 2), dated 5th January 1998;
- Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic, dated 1st October 1997;
Laws of the Kyrgyz Republic:
- Law on Limiting Monopoly Activity and the Development and Protection of Competition, dated 15th April 1994 (the "Antimonopoly Law");
- Law on Natural and Permitted Monopolies in the Kyrgyz Republic, dated 8th October 1999 (the "Law on Monopolies");
- Law on Advertisement dated 24th December 1998;
- Law on Protection of Consumers Rights, dated 10th December 1997;
Resolutions of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic:
- Resolution approving the Regulation of the procedure for setting prices (tariffs) of goods (works, services) of business entities regulated by the state, dated 17th July 2003;
- Resolution approving the Rules for controlling observance of the antimonopoly laws of the Kyrgyz Republic during economic integration, dated 15th March 2008;
- Resolution approving the Rules for suppressing agreements on fixing prices (tariffs) to limit competition, dated 2nd October 2009;
- Resolution on the Antimonopoly Agency, dated 4th December 2009.
In addition to the above legal articles, issues relating to competition and antimonopoly policy are governed by the acts of the Antimonopoly Agency, the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic and other public authorities.
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The Antimonopoly Agency is a government agency pursuing the unified government antimonopoly and price regulation policy which consists of the central and the regional bodies established in six regions of the Kyrgyz Republic. It should be noted that the functions of the Antimonopoly Agency in the telecommunications and energy sectors are performed by other special authorities who act as the regulators of their respective sectors.
The main tasks of the Antimonopoly Agency:
- development and protection of competition for the efficient functioning of markets of goods, works and services;
- state enforcement of antimonopoly and pricing legislation;
- protection of legal rights of consumers against monopoly and unfair competition;
- state enforcement of the legislation on advertising.
The main functions of the Antimonopoly Agency, among others, include:
- implementation of unified state antimonopoly, pricing policy in the economy;
- review of complaints and allegations of individuals and legal entities of non-compliance with competition, consumer protection, advertising, and antimonopoly laws of the Kyrgyz Republic, including the illegal actions of government bodies and local authorities;
- imposing fines and economic sanctions on the persons violating the antimonopoly laws of the Kyrgyz Republic;
- participating in court hearings in cases involving violations of antimonopoly legislation, consumer protection and other regulations;
- agreeing the costs of permits issued by the state authorities;
- reviewing applications and notifications of the merger, reorganization, liquidation, purchase of shares in the charter capital of business entities, making other transactions and adopting relevant decisions;
- deciding on the forcible division of business entities with a dominant position in the market;
- carrying out the state antimonopoly examination of the restructuring and liquidation of business entities, transactions and investments made by natural and permitted monopolies, acquisition of shares in the charter capital of business entities and others as provided by law;
- establishing a ceiling for the dominance of business entities in the relevant market of goods, works and services;
- determining, in accordance with Kyrgyz legislation methods of regulating the activity of natural and permitted monopolies;
- negotiating prices (or tariffs) for services (or works), provided by government agencies, local governments and their subdivisions, organizations, institutions, etc.
The Antimonopoly Agency is headed by the Director, appointed by the President of the Kyrgyz Republic. The Director of the Antimonopoly Agency has one deputy.
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The Antimonopoly Law is effective in the entire territory of the Kyrgyz Republic and covers relations in national and regional markets with the participation of any business entities, executive authorities and public officials. The relations connected with competition development in goods and services markets and the restriction of monopolistic activity in the Kyrgyz Republic are regulated by the Antimonopoly Law in compliance with international agreements and corresponding acts of the international organizations in which the Kyrgyz Republic is a member.
Moreover, the Law on Monopolies provides that state control in the spheres of natural and permitted monopolies, incorporates any transactions made by groups of people, based on definition that allows application of the extraterritorial principle.
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