The Anti-trust Committee found a collusion to keep prices high between 47 gas filling stations in Bukhara province. Monitoring conducted by the Bukhara province branch of the committee showed that the retail price of 1 cubic meter of compressed gas at filling stations until December 6, 2024 was from 3,850 to 3,950 soums, and in the period from December 7 to 9, it rose to 4,150 soums, or by 8%.
A total of 85 filling stations were examined in order to identify signs of collusion or concerted actions among business entities that simultaneously or sequentially artificially increased retail prices for compressed gas.
The committee found that 44 business entities that own 47 filling stations artificially inflated prices without the presence of individual economic reasons, external factors or the need to increase costs.
The price increases occurred simultaneously or sequentially between December 5 and December 13, which resulted in unjustified profits at the expense of consumers, the department said.
A special commission of the branch opened criminal cases against all 44 companies on the grounds of violating the Article 19 of the Competition Law and made decisions to apply financial penalties.
In addition, mandatory orders were issued to eliminate the violations and prevent similar cases in the future.
