The 46th ICAP session in Chisinau
On 17 March 2017, in Chisinau (Moldova), the Interstate Council on Antimonopoly Policy (ICAP) held the 46th session. Participants included FAS delegation led by Deputy Head of FAS Anatoly Golomolzin and representatives of the antimonopoly bodies of the CIS member states, the CIS Executive Committee and “Competition Support in the CIS” Non-Profit Partnership.
The agenda included issues of most interest for the antimonopoly bodies of the CIS member states, FAS representatives were the key speakers on some of them.
One of such items was experience of the Russian Federation in tariff regulation. Anatoly Golomolzininformed about the efforts undertaken by FAS on tariff regulations since the relevant powers were transferred to the antimonopoly authority. In particular, establishing and launching long-term tariff policy, formation of the Methodological Council in Tariff regulation, a transition to the “inflation minus” principle for tariff calculation applied in 2016.
“Our job is to make tariff policy sustainable; we solve infrastructure issues stage-by-stage, along with tariff-setting we try to enhance performance of regulated companies, and our decisions are based on market analysis. In such an important area as tariff regulation, we intend to be open and do everything to make decisions public”, concluded Anatoly Golomolzin.
The Russian delegation also informed ICAP about the practice of coordinating cooperation between the antimonopoly bodies of the CIS member states and elaborating a coherent position on international competition policy to be presented at the international platforms.
“Currently the antimonopoly bodies from different countries feel the need to employ efficient cooperation tools in enforcement to counter restrictive practices of transnational corporations and cross-border violations of the competition rules” said Head of FAS Department for International Economic Cooperation, Lesya Davydova. “Emphasizing the importance of the work on developing such tools, FAS put forward an initiative to adopt an Anti-Cartel Convention, devising and promoting which at the international stage by the antimonopoly bodies of the CIS member states will enable us to make a weighty contribution in advancing international competition policy”.
The discussion of the issue and the FAS proposals resulted in a decision to refine in detail the draft Anti-Cartel Convention by CIS antimonopoly bodies, and jointly participate in international discussions, particularly, at UNCTAD on devising tools aimed at developing competition between antimonopoly bodies in enforcement against transnational corporations and cross-border violations.
Traditionally, ICAP discussed the work of the Headquarters for Joint Investigations of Violations of the Antimonopoly Law in the CIS Member States that had held the 32nd meeting a day earlier, on 15 March 2017, in Chisinau. Problems of antimonopoly regulation on various markets were discussed that are rather similar actors the CIS to work out common approaches to solve them.