Kuwaiti Competition Protection Agency's Issues First Penalties

The Kuwaiti Competition Protection Authority (CPA) imposes penalties for violations of the Law 72/2020 on the Protection of Competition (Competition Law), which came into force at the end of June 2021. A first fine was imposed end of 2022 against an unnamed manufacturer of reenforced steel for failure to cooperate with the CPA in their investigation. End of March 2023 substantial fines were imposed in second case against supermarkets found to have abused their market dominant position.

In late 2022, the CPA initiated an investigation into business practices of companies working in the steel sector. The investigation does not appear to have been prompted by a specific incident but rather in a more general afford to verify whether these companies complied with the Kuwaiti competition regime. In their investigation the CPA considered all stages of production and distribution of reenforced steel in Kuwait. The CPA ultimately concluded its investigation without finding