MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE FEDERAL ANTIMONOPOLY SERVICE (RUSSIAN FEDERATION) AND THE ITALIAN COMPETITION AUTHORITY

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (Russian Federation) and the Italian Competition Authority hereinafter referred as Parties,



expressing the wish to continue their eight years long active co-operation in the field of competition,

aiming at the creation of favourable conditions for the development of bilateral relations,

recognizing that cooperation is based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit,



have agreed as follows:



1. The Parties will promote and strengthen their co-operation in the field of competition enforcement and competition policy.



2. Co-operation between the Parties will pursue the following objectives:



- exchange of information on the evolutions of the domestic legal framework with respect to restrictive business practices, abusive conduct and merger control;

- exchange of information on major antitrust decisions and Court deliberations;

- exchange of experience on regulatory reform and liberalizations;

- exchange of experience for the development of best practice methodologies for evaluating firms behaviour under the antitrust statutes;

- exchange of experience on competition advocacy .



3. Co-operation between the Parties will imply (subject to further deliberation and consultation):



- organisation of regular contacts between high level officials and experts in Moscow and Rome;

- organization of training seminars in Moscow and Rome;

- organisation of symposiums, conferences and seminars;

- organization of direct contacts between experts on specific issues.



4. The Parties will actively cooperate in the field of international antitrust, sharing their experiences in the OECD, UNCTAD and the ICN.



5. The financing of co-operation initiatives will be determined on a case by case basis.



6. The Parties should make their best to settle, through friendly means, all discrepancies and disputes if any arising from the application of this Memorandum.



7. The present Memorandum shall be used from the date of its signing and before expiration of 6 months from the date of the written notification by one of the Parties on its intention to cease its effect.



8. Discontinuing the present Memorandum will not affect the programs and projects started in its framework.



9. The present Memorandum shall not be considered as an international treaty and does not establish any right or obligation for the Parties which are regulated by international law.



The Memorandum is signed on September 19, 2008 in Moscow.



The six signed copies of the Memorandum, written in Russian, Italian and English are all of equal authenticity and force. In case of any divergence of interpretation, the English text shall prevail.



For the Federal Antimonopoly Service (Russian Federation)

Igor Artemiev, Head



For the Italian Competition Authority

Antonio Catrical, Chairman