Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Nov. 14
By Demir Azizov - Trend:
Uzbekistan's Higher Economic Court upheld the decision of the appellate instance of the Tashkent City Court, which recognized the LLC Unitel's position in the local mobile communications market as dominant, the court's representative told Trend on Nov. 12.
Thus, the court dismissed the LLC Unitel's (Beeline brand, subsidiary of the Russian VimpelCom Ltd. in Uzbekistan) claim on satisfaction of the cassation complaint.
In September 2013 the appellate instance of the Tashkent City Court dismissed the Unitel's appeal on the decision of the Court of First Instance, which recognized the position of the Uzbek mobile communication operator in the market as dominant.
It was reported that in July the Court of First Instance satisfied in full a similar lawsuit of LLC Coscom (subsidiary of the Scandinavian TeliaSonera) against Uzbekistan State Competition Committee.
In May 2013 the expert commission of the Uzbekistan State Competition Committee found that during a period from April 2012 to April 2013 the shares of the two operators in the local mobile communications market was on average of 35 per cent each, and suggested to include the companies in the registry of economic entities having dominant position in this market.
According to the Uzbek law "On Competition" a company can be recognized as dominating in the market if the share of its goods is 50 per cent or more, as well as the shares of which range from 35 to 50 per cent when meeting certain terms. These terms include the stability of the company's share in the market for at least a year, the possibility of entry of new entities into the market and other terms.