Anatoly Golomolzin on some aspects of competition policy in digital economy

“Changing goods circulation related to implementation of Information-and-Communications Technologies (ICT) transformed the existing markets and created the new ones where value is formed through collecting, processing and representing information, including telemetric data”.

Deputy Head of FAS Anatoly Golomolzin discussed the issue at the International Conference на “Practices of applying IATA (International Air Transport Association) standards of exchanging information at the key stages of charging aircrafts in the Russian Federation with aviation fuels” on 29 March 2017. He highlighted the aspects related to digital economy in general as well as concerning aviation and aviation fuel supply.

The value of collecting, processing and visualizing information determined emergence of new market participants: aggregators (wholesale and retail, insurance, education, transportation, tourist services and other markets). Often the same person acts as an ‘aggregator’ on different markets.

The aviation sector experiences the following: transition to electronic document flows; automated technological processes; changes in the system of organizing economic activity and market relations. Typical features of digital economy include: broad use of e-platforms, big data, big analytics, and digital algorithms.

Dynamic pricing systems and booking systems are widely used in the transport sector. According to Deputy Head of FAS, “the antimonopoly bodies do the work aimed at develop objective price indicators formed on such platforms and on the air transportation market in general. It concerns drafting proposals for price indicators formed upon comparable market quotations based on primary information about the actual air fare sales”.

The speaker emphasized: “Considerable changes have occurred on the markets of air fuel and air fuel supply. Those markets have become competitive, airlines are able to purchase aviation fuel from various suppliers via various sale channels, including directs contracts with oil companies and on exchange quotations on fuel sold through exchange using modern e-trading procedures with remote access, standardized products and systems the enable payment for the supplied fuel”.

E-technologies have undeniable benefits for the economy; at the same time in the digitalizing economy it is essential like never before to develop competition in important, priority markets in relation to ICT development.

Anatoly Golomolzin stated: “Understanding the global and objective nature of developing digitalization processes, a systematic policy should be built up, which will encourage market competition and reinforce competitiveness of the economy”.

In his opinion, the main areas of development include: harmonization of the law and normative-technical framework in ICT; establishing common information space – electronic trust space; information security.

Anatoly Golomolzin summed up: “Antimonopoly bodies simultaneously improve practice of their work. We can expose and suppress large-scale violations in the filed of digital technologies. It concerns operations of global market players and new forms of violations, particular, suppressing collusions on e-trading sites”.