Saudi General Authority for Competition Seeks to Uncover Violations

Photo of a supermarket in Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Photo of a supermarket in Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

Saudi General Authority for Competition Seeks to Uncover Violations

Photo of a supermarket in Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Photo of a supermarket in Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi General Authority for Competition completed the interconnection with more than 5 public entities to provide them with available data and enable them to analyze prices and build indicators for early detection of collusion in government competitions, in addition to creating more than 30 indicators and a dashboard that helps them in controlling markets.

The authority aims to adopt the competition-stimulating policies, combat illegal monopolistic practices, in order to improve market performance, support the consumer and business sector confidence, and contribute to investments flow and sustainable development.

A report issued by the Authority, a copy of which was reviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat, uncovered 15 undeclared merger and acquisition deals in the past year, against which the authority took a number of legal measures.

The information and communications sectors, as well as the manufacturing industries, were the leading sectors in which unreported deals were monitored.

At the same time, the Authority revealed that it received 316 applications for economic concentration operations (mergers and acquisitions) over the past year, mainly in the manufacturing sector, followed by information and communication technology.

It dealt with 117 complaints during the same period, the largest number of which was in the retail and wholesale sectors, followed by construction.

GAC board of directors approved its strategy for the years 2022-2025, which includes four strategic axes, 11 goals and more than 20 initiatives. The authority aims to direct its resources to promote fair competition in the markets, thus contributing to achieving the goals of Vision 2030.

 

 



Passenger Plane Flying from Azerbaijan to Russia Crashes in Kazakhstan with Many Feared Dead

Plane crash in Kazakhstan (Archive - Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Kazakhstan)
Plane crash in Kazakhstan (Archive - Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Kazakhstan)
TT

Passenger Plane Flying from Azerbaijan to Russia Crashes in Kazakhstan with Many Feared Dead

Plane crash in Kazakhstan (Archive - Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Kazakhstan)
Plane crash in Kazakhstan (Archive - Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Kazakhstan)

An Embraer passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan to Russia crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday with 62 passengers and five crew on board, Kazakh authorities announced, saying that 27 people had survived.
Unverified video of the crash showed the plane, which was operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, bursting into flames as it hit the ground and thick black smoke then rising. Bloodied and bruised passengers could be seen stumbling from a piece of the fuselage that had remained intact, Reuters reported.
The Central Asian country's emergencies ministry said in a statement that fire services had put out the blaze and that the survivors, including three children, were being treated at a nearby hospital.
Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 aircraft, with flight number J2-8243, had been flying from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Russia's Chechnya, but had been forced to make an emergency landing approximately 3 km (1.8 miles) from the Kazakh city of Aktau.
Russian news agencies said the plane had been rerouted due to fog in Grozny.
Authorities in Kazakhstan said they had begun looking into different possible versions of what had happened, including a technical problem, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.
Russia's aviation watchdog said in a statement that preliminary information suggested the pilot had decided to make an emergency landing after a bird strike.
Following the crash, Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, was returning home from Russia where he had been due to attend a summit on Wednesday, Russia's RIA news agency reported.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, expressed his condolences in a statement and said those being treated in hospital were in an extremely serious condition and that he and others would pray for their rapid recovery.