On May 23, the Competition and Consumer Agency hosted the closing ceremony for the EU-funded TWINNING project, which had been running for two years. Irakli Lekvinadze, Chairman of the Georgian Competition and Consumer Agency, opened the conference and delivered a speech to the participants, providing a full outline of the project's activities.
“Over the past two years, significant events were held within the framework of the project. Thanks to all stakeholders involved in the project for their cooperation and support. According to the project's experts, the compliance of the Georgian Competition Legislation with the European Union law is up to 75%, which in 2022, at the project start stage, was 60%, and in terms of protecting consumer rights, it was 70% and is now 85%.
We have developed more than 30 bylaw documents other guidline materials based on twinning recommendations. I would like to highlight the national strategy for the protection of consumer rights, which was prepared with the involvement of regulatory bodies. Also, with the financial support of the project, in order to increase public awareness on the issues of competition and consumer protection, 4 informative videos were created, which were placed on all Georgian media channels.
Throughout the reporting period, around 80 round tables, seminars, and workshops were held with various target audiences. Representatives from government and parliamentary authorities, business, non-governmental and academic sectors, civil society, regulatory bodies, the judiciary, and the media participated in the meetings. Four work-study visits were conducted to Vienna and Vilnius, which were extremely beneficial in terms of improving the Agency's staff qualifications.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of Georgian Competition and Consumer Agency. The Georgian Competition Agency was established in 2014, following Georgia's signing of the European Association Agreement. In 2020, significant amendments were made to the Law, bringing Georgian competition policy in line with European Union norms. We added anti-dumping rules in 2021, followed by consumer rights protection in 2022. In parallel with the implemented reforms, our Agency made a number of important decisions that affected various sectors," said Irakli Lekvinadze, Chairman of the Competition and Consumer Agency, and thanked the EU mission, local and international experts and authorities involved in the project for their participation and assistance.
The project's ending ceremony was attended by officials from the government and parliamentary authorities, the Lithuanian and Austrian competition and consumer protection agencies, the diplomatic corps, non-governmental organizations, local counterpart bodies, and academia.
The event was attended by: Jolanta Ivanauskiene, Chairperson of the Competition Council of Lithuania; Lukas Cavada, Executive International Coordinator of Federal Competition Agency of Austria; Goda Aleksaite, Director of State Consumer Rights Protection Authority of Lithuania; Irma Urmonaite, Project Leader, Council Member of the Competition Council of Lithuania and others.
The EU Twinning Project "Strengthening Capacity of the Competition Agency of Georgia" launched on June 1, 2022 and lasted two years. The agency, a team of professionals from the Lithuanian and Austrian competition agencies, provided consulting and technical support as part of the project. A team of professionals from the Lithuanian and Austrian competition authorities, provided consulting and technical support as part of the project.
