Business
Posted: 4 years ago

Caucasus Online is Addressing the Business Ombudsman of Georgia              

Caucasus Online is addressing business Ombudsman of Georgia, Mikheil Daushvili, with the letter and asks to study the active dispute with the Communications Commission.

Here is the Company's full letter:

Ltd Caucasus Online by the law of electronic communications of Georgia is the authorized and one of the largest wholesale internet provider in Georgia. With the following letter, we want to put your attention on the risks and dangers, which this Company is encountering nowadays.

Georgia's national commission of communications, on October 17 of the 2019 year, has decided to find guilty the Company in case, where National the commission is trying to find the offense of the law, in the change which has occurred inside the structure of shareholders of the foreign Company ("Nelgado limited:), As representatives of the commission said, the Company had to inform the regulatory about this change beforehand, and only after the permission of regulatory, this act could have been implemented, As we were told in authority, they have composed the letter and sent it to Caucasus Online, and in this letter, they have mentioned all of their concerns and the acts which were by their consideration against the law

To begin, we must mention that the obligation, which was imposed on the Company, didn't have any juridical background, and besides this fact, Company couldn't physically execute the strange demands of the commission anyway. Commission also tried to make Company pay some fines; for instance,   on December 12 of 2019, Caucasus online was fined by 30000 Lari, again on February 6 of 2020, the fine increased and became 90000 Lari. Eventually, on May 12 of 2020, the fine became 270000 Lari. On May 28 of 2020, the regulatory went further and tried to impose the administrative responsibility on the Company and started to talk about the validity of the Company's authorization. The session is scheduled for the June 25, where the final verdict about the stoppage of the Company's authorization will be declared

This stoppage of authorization, undoubtedly will have a very serious impact on the internet market of the whole region, and in some ways will damage all of the internet users around Georgia, It's worth mentioning, that damage will diffuse on the different spheres of the market, for example, after all of this it will be very hard for the users of the mobile internet and fixed retail network to get secured and high-quality product. Also, the negative impact can spread on state's financial stability and probably will  damage the whole economy; the reason is simple, Caucasus Online pays a very large amount of money in state budget permanently  and exactly that financial resource, will be simply lost as well

Caucasus Online tries its best to maintain the chosen course of action; Company tries as well to find the solution, from this complicated situation,  Priority is simple Company that has to fulfill its own goals and avoid incorrigible financial or another kind of damage. Probably we must mention The main arguments of the commission about this matter too, they think that following transaction will make hard for the other players of the field to operate in the competitive environment, but this argument doesn't have any connection with the rational reasoning, as regulatory did not try to conduct any research about the future influence of the transaction, Company has already demanded the authority to start thinking about this kind of researches, but there was not an improvement from the second side.

We ask you with much respect, to discuss this topic in the format of the two-side meeting, we think that your productive participation in this process will make it easier to find the right solution from a problem, and will give Company the opportunity to take care of its affairs without any interference, and will let the commission to exercise it's own duties as well".  It is said in the letter.