The year 2024 marked a milestone in the activity of the Agency for Protection and Development of Competition of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Agency or Antimonopoly Authority). As part of the implementation of the president's instruction on demonopolization of markets, significant effort was undertaken to enhance the competitive landscape and eliminate barriers to market access. The Agency focused on enhancing antimonopoly laws, combating unfair competition, and boosting economic transparency. This LawFlash highlights key areas of the Agency's activities in 2024 that had a significant impact on the development of the market and business climate in Kazakhstan.
In early January 2025, the chairman of the Agency, M.T. Omarov, reported on the performance of the Agency's control functions to the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
In 2024, the Agency conducted and completed 97 antitrust investigations. The investigations concerned, among other things, the cost of parking services at the Aktau airport as well as the services of Kazzinc LLP, Toyota Tsusho Kazakhstan Auto LLP, National Company KazAutoZhol JSC and communication services.
The president's personal oversight underscores the importance of antimonopoly regulation, reducing state involvement in business, and ongoing efforts to demonopolize Kazakhstan's markets.
As part of the interaction between the Agency and law enforcement agencies, the Antimonopoly Authority has been working to return illegally moved assets. According to the Agency's official website, approximately 65 billion tenge in assets have been returned to state ownership since 2022, highlighting the success of their efforts.
In all cases described by the Agency, the entities were recognized as dominant on certain markets, and their abuse of dominant position in such markets was substantiated. As a result of violation of the provisions of the competition law, the market entities were deprived of their rights (as can be seen from the analysis of court decisions) of ownership of immovable property and participatory interests in legal entities.
Thus, for example, the participatory interests of Almaty Spetstekhparking Service LLP and Alan Parking LLP, present in the market of paid parking services, shares of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Storage Park JSC, present in the market of turnover and storage of oil products, were seized in court.
The Agency noticed signs of violation of competition law in the actions of mobile operators under the article covering anticompetitive concerted actions of market entities, since all operators had the same price for the services. In 2023, investigations were launched against three mobile operators of Kazakhstan, namely Kcell JSC, Mobile Telecom - Service LLP (Tele2/Altel), and Kar-Tel LLP (Beeline), on the abovementioned grounds. Currently, the described investigations are suspended since the operators have appealed the Agency's actions.
Nevertheless, the Agency closely monitors the communication services market to ensure compliance with regulations and prevent anticompetitive practices. In November, Kar-Tel LLP (Beeline) was given a notice on elimination of signs of abuse of dominant position because the operator restricted consumers in choosing the speed of home internet in tariff packages. In 2024, an investigation was launched against Kazakhtelecom JSC on a similar basis.
The Antimonopoly Authority is analyzing the 2024 price increases in communication services. This analysis will lead to a legal assessment, which may result in new investigations against communication operators.
The Antimonopoly Authority has the legal power to invalidate and cancel the re-registration of a legal entity or demand its liquidation if it is proven that such actions were taken without the Agency's consent to economic concentration. The Antimonopoly Authority can exercise its right to invalidate transactions if the registration or re-registration of ownership interests or real property rights occurs without the necessary approval for economic concentration, or if a previously granted approval has been revoked by the Antimonopoly Authority.
The Antimonopoly Authority can exercise its right to invalidate transactions if the registration or re-registration of participatory interest/shares or real property rights occurs without the necessary consent for economic concentration, or if previously granted consent has been revoked by the Agency as provided by the law.
Historically, the Agency either did not use this provision or used it very rarely. However, recent judicial practices indicate that the Agency has been using this provision more frequently to invalidate transactions lacking proper consent for economic concentration. This is also supported by the information provided above.
In 2024, there were several court cases where the Antimonopoly Authority tried to cancel re-registration of a legal entity and even to liquidate a legal entity. We note that not all cases were successful for the Agency; some claims were left without consideration or canceled.
This practice demonstrates that the Agency has an effective tool to reverse transactions, highlighting the importance of carefully analyzing the need for consent in economic concentration.
The sixth antimonopoly package of amendments to the competition law of Kazakhstan was introduced in 2024. The amendments currently proposed by the Agency address the following areas:
With the proposed amendments in the discussion stage, it remains to be seen which of the Agency's initiatives will be adopted by the Parliament and included in legislative acts.
If you have any questions or would like more information on the issues discussed in this LawFlash, please contact any of the following: