Tirana Court rejects investigation by Competition Authority

Tirana Court rejects investigation by Competition Authority

Tirana, 26 April 2007 (AENews) – Albanian Competition Authority lost an important lawsuit in the Tirana court which could potentially block its activities against monopolies, a top official said last week. The Tirana District Court issued an intermediary decision in a legal battle between the Authority and the powerful insurance industry.

The Albanian Competition Authority had ruled last month that eight insurance companies had violated the anti-monopoly law by creating a unified office for the sale of international police for car insurance, which is an important product with an yearly turn over of EUR 4 million.

The legal battle started after the Authority had fined the companies, but the recent court decision concluded that the whole investigation was illegal.

"The court practically has closed the Authority", commented a top official, announcing that they would appeal the decision.

Albanian courts are considered to be the highest corruption-affected institutions in the country, according to perception polls carried out by Transparency International.

The Albania Competition Authority was established two years ago. Since then it has conducted several investigations for competition violations in the insurance and telecommunication sectors. However, its work has been affected greatly by the general weakness of Albanian institutions.

Last year, the Albanian Insurance market reported a turn-over of EUR 40 million. It is controlled mainly by local businessmen, but the last months there have seen also an injection of foreign investors into the existing companies.