Ministry of Economy proposes new commodity exchanges law: government could require some goods to be sold through the exchange

Armenia’s Ministry of Economy has published for public discussion a package of three draft laws: the Law “On Commodity Exchanges”, in force since 1993, is to be restated in a new version, while the Laws “On Notification of Carrying Out Activities” and “On State Duty” are to be supplemented. The new law would allow exchange trading on an electronic platform, require every exchange deal to be backed by guarantee security and let the government approve a list of goods subject to mandatory sale through a commodity exchange. The discussion on e-draft.am runs from November 13 to 28.

What the main draft proposes

• Electronic trading. An exchange could organise trading on an electronic platform; the exchange’s rules would set the procedure for publishing bids, automatic matching and immediate publication of the deal price.
• Mandatory exchange sale. The authorised body would submit to the government for approval a list of goods subject to mandatory sale through a commodity exchange and the terms of sale; the government would approve the list and terms. According to the justification, similar mechanisms are used in several Eurasian Economic Union countries, including Russia and Kazakhstan.
• Guarantee security. Each party to an exchange deal, buyer and seller, must secure performance of its obligation from the moment the deal is concluded in an amount not below the minimum set by the exchange; without it the deal is not registered.
• Confirming the goods. For each exchange commodity, the exchange’s rules would provide for warehouse receipts or another mechanism confirming the actual availability, quantity and quality of the goods, through certified warehouses, independent weighing or expert examination; the confirming person must be independent of the parties to the deal and of the exchange.
• Off-exchange deals. A deal concluded outside the exchange but later formalised and registered on it would count as an exchange deal, and exchange guarantees would apply to it. The exchange’s rules would set the procedure for recording and registering exchange and off-exchange deals and for managing market risks.
• Preventing abuse. The rules are to help prevent price manipulation and abuse of inside information; the exchange would pass information on suspected competition violations to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, and participants making large deals would have to disclose their beneficial owners.
• Exchange independence. Participants in exchange trading and clients do not take part in forming the exchange’s charter capital or in its management. An exchange is created as a joint-stock company or a limited liability company.
• Provisions dropped. The licensing provisions are removed because under the Law “On Licensing” commodity exchanges’ activity is not subject to licensing, and the provisions on exchange members are removed because the institution of membership does not work in practice.

Accompanying drafts and timing

In the Law “On Notification of Carrying Out Activities”, item 15, “Organising a commodity exchange”, is added to the table of activities subject to notification: instead of a licence, an exchange would notify the authorised body of its founding. In the Law “On State Duty”, a duty of 100 times the annual base duty is set for the right to organise a commodity exchange, and 50 times for each branch or other separate subdivision where more than one operates under the same brand. The draft does not state the amount of the “annual base duty”; the base duty itself under the current law is AMD 1,000 (about $2.8). All three laws are proposed to enter into force six months after official publication, and the government must adopt the secondary legislation within six months after the main law enters into force.

How the Ministry of Economy justifies the draft

In its justification the Ministry of Economy notes that the 1993 law was adopted in a transition period, when trade was mostly conducted on paper and with the physical participation of the parties, while electronic platforms, off-exchange deals and digital data processing were not widespread. The aim is a modern, flexible and effective legal framework for commodity exchanges that, among other things, ensures price transparency for mass-consumption goods across the wholesale–retail chain. The ministry refers to international experience, in which commodity exchanges are also a tool for managing price risk through derivatives such as futures and options, to the experience of EAEU countries and to a 2021 report by the Eurasian Economic Commission on the state of commodity markets and stock exchanges in EAEU states. No significant change in state budget revenues and expenditures is expected. The draft stems from the “Armenia Transformation Strategy 2050” and from point 93 of the annex to Government Decision No. 16-L of January 8, 2026, which approved the doctrine of economic and institutional transformation.

Background: prices of mass-consumption goods

The draft is aimed at price transparency for mass-consumption goods, and we published the latest price data in our article “Annual inflation in Armenia was 4.3% in October”. Consumer prices in October 2026 rose 4.3% over the year and 0.3% over the month, above the Central Bank’s 3% target. Inflation in the group of food, beverages and tobacco was 5.9%; meat rose 10.8% (beef 22.2%), eggs 19.4%, cabbage 80.8% and apples 29.1%, while fish and seafood fell 17.8%.

Editor’s note

What: the Ministry of Economy proposes to replace the 1993 commodity exchanges law with a new one: with electronic trading, mandatory security for deal performance, confirmation of the goods’ availability and a government right to set a list of goods subject to mandatory exchange sale. Public discussion lasts until November 28.

Who needs it: producers, wholesale and retail traders and importers of mass-consumption goods, potential exchange organisers and participants, and consumers, for whom price transparency is the stated aim. The tax authority (notifications) and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, to which the exchange would pass data on suspected violations, are also affected.

What it means: the main decision, which goods will become subject to mandatory exchange sale, is not in the law: the list and terms will be approved by a separate government decision, and the secondary legislation will appear only within six months after the law enters into force, which itself happens six months after publication. The real effect on prices will therefore become clear only after those acts are adopted. Entry for an exchange organiser is simplified: a notification and a duty instead of a licence.

What to do: companies trading in mass-consumption goods should read the draft texts and assess which goods could end up on the list; proposals can be sent through e-draft.am until November 28 (registration on the site is required); follow the draft government decision with the list of goods and terms of sale; and potential exchange organisers should study the requirements for guarantees and for confirming the goods’ availability in advance.