Sergey Puzyrevsky: the National Competition Development Plan will put the constitutional principles into practice

The Plan is designed for the authorities at all levels to carry out events enhancing the quality of competition development across all sectors of the economy

On 24 November 2016, Deputy Head of FAS Sergey Puzyrevsky discussed the main goals of the National Competition Development Plan at a research-to-practice conference of the Law Faculty of Moscow State University and Kutafin Moscow State Law Academy.

“We have determined the three main goals: improving well-being of Russian citizens; free, fair and efficient economic activity of businesses; and resolving social tasks of the state by making the economic climate better”, said Deputy Head of FAS.

The document provides for, inter alia, a transition of particular segments of the economy from natural monopolies to a competitive market, and approving the “Road Maps” aimed at developing competition in the fields where competition is significantly limited or absent. “This is a strategic task. The antimonopoly authority has formed a Working group comprising representatives of specialized  Departments to discuss what measures can enhance the quality of competition in the sectors with monopolies or restricted competition”, added Sergey Puzyrevsky.

The he moved to tariff policy. Deputy Head of FAS stated that the current legal mechanisms often fail to ensure transparent, long-term and efficient tariff regulation. In practice it leads to a lot of tariff disputes and tariff discrimination. He continued: “We cannot do without strong incentives that cut down on the costs of natural monopolies and make them more efficient. Common principles of tariff regulation should be formulated and we should endeavour to get rid to the maximum possible extent of the costs method, developing elements of comparable markets in tariff regulation. One should not forget that efficient development of the competitive sectors of the economy depends, in particular, on efficient tariff regulation”.

Evgeny Gubin, Head of the Business Law Department at the Law Faculty of Moscow State University looked favourably at the idea of discussing the National Competition Development Plan with scholars who can make their useful contribution to refining the Plan.

Deputy Head of FAS Maxim Ovchinnikov also was a speaker at the Conference. He talked about public defence procurement system and the associated problems. “We face the same issues as in tariff regulation – lack of cost-reduction incentives. New rules of control and regulation should form such incentives”. Deputy Head of FAS drew the audience’s attention to the fact that FAS tries not to miss changes in sectoral laws that can generate an adverse effect in enforcement. Maxim Ovchinnikov stated that the National Competition Development Plan provides for a combination of sectoral rules and incentives for developing competition.

Head of FAS Department for Industry Control, Nelli Galimkhanova discussed economic analyses and described several relevant cases. She pointed out that fixing monopolistically high price and price discrimination are the most frequent violations committed by market participants.

Andrey Tenishev, Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department, said that the number of exposed  anticompetitive agreements, including cross-border markets, had been increasing and analyzed the specifics of inspecting high-technology companies.

Sergey Maximov, an assistant to Head of FAS, described antimonopoly regulation within the Eurasian Economic Union.

At the end of the Conference, participants emphasized that public discussions on the directions of developing competition and antimonopoly policy enhance the decision quality and uplevel trust.