Kobakhidze Urges Investigation Into Grocery Prices, Alleges Cartel Practices
By Liza Mchedlidze
Thursday, December 25, 2025
Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has called on law enforcement agencies and Parliament to investigate "unusually high food prices" in Georgia, raising concerns that large retail chains may be coordinating pricing practices in violation of competition rules.
In a video address, Kobakhidze said government analysis showed that basic food items are significantly more expensive in Georgia than in European Union countries, even in supermarkets operating under the same international brands.
"Price comparisons between chain supermarkets in Georgia and France show that sunflower oil costs 34 percent more here, pasta almost twice as much, rice 180 percent more, butter 30 percent more, cheese 42 percent more, and chocolate 47 percent more," Kobakhidze said.
According to Kobakhidze, the gap cannot be explained by transportation or operating costs alone. He said markups from the border to store shelves average around 86 percent, while large retail chains in Georgia report profit margins well above European levels.
"Some retail chains show net profits between 7 and 14 percent, while in Europe the average is about 2 percent, despite higher labor and operating costs there," he said. He added that distributors also earn sizeable margins, which ultimately push prices higher for consumers.
He said the current pricing model places heavy pressure on local producers, sometimes making it more profitable for them to export goods rather than sell them domestically.
"For Georgian producers, it is often more advantageous not to place their products on local shelves at all, but to send them abroad," Kobakhidze said.
The Prime Minister also pointed to structural problems in the retail sector, including fees charged for product placement, delayed payments to suppliers, and the rapid expansion of supermarket chains. Georgia now has more than 110 supermarkets per 100,000 people, he said, far exceeding figures in countries such as Germany and Austria.
Kobakhidze said these factors raise serious questions about market behavior. "There is a reasonable suspicion that certain players may be acting in coordination, based on cartel principles, which requires further study," he said.
He urged law enforcement bodies to examine whether any criminal violations are involved and called on lawmakers to take up the issue as well. "I ask Parliament to establish a special commission that will use parliamentary mechanisms to assess food price formation," he said, adding that the government is prepared to apply anti-monopoly tools if necessary.
Georgian Dream Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili supported the proposal, saying lawmakers would move forward once the spring session begins. He said a commission would be created to "conduct a public examination of how food prices are formed in Georgia."
The investigation, if launched, would mark the first coordinated effort by the government to scrutinize the country's powerful retail sector amid growing public frustration over the cost of living.
