The antimonopoly bodies of Russia and South Africa will strengthen cooperation in the field of competition policy

Cooperation shall be both bilateral and under the frame of BRICS

On 10 May 2017, FAS delegation led by Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Tsyganov had a meeting with Commissioner Tembinokosi Bonakele, the Competition Commission of South Africa. The meeting took place in Porto (Portugal) at the Annual Conference of the International Competition Network (ICN).

The parties discussed general issues of cooperation between competition authorities of Russia and South Africa and interaction under the BRICS format. It included establishing BRICS Project Office at “Skolkovo” Innovation Centre; signing a Joint BRICS Statement  on fair pricing on ocean liner transportation and the initiative to draft  the Toolkit on international cooperation between competition authorities to counter restrictive business practices of large transnational corporations.

The parties looked into practical aspects of the forthcoming visit of a delegation of South African competition authority to the Russian Federation in order to take part in St Petersburg International Legal Forum.

Special attention was paid to cooperation between FAS and the Competition Commission of South Africa under the frame of BRICS Working Group on car-manufacturing industry. The participants praised highly the results of the Round Table on the issue in March 2017 in South Africa, and discussed further directions of cooperation, including coordinating efforts to investigate cases on violations of the competition law on the market of car spare parts.

Finally, the parties agreed to continue an active dialogue on all areas of the joint agenda and hold regular bilateral meetings, particular, at international platforms, as well as St Petersburg International Legal Forum on 16 - 20 May 2017 in St Petersburg and the “Competition week in Russia” (on 18-20 September 2017 in Veliky Novgorod).

“The experience of our South African colleagues is very interesting and in some aspects – unique. Making decisions on antimonopoly cases and on economic concentration transactions, the Competition Commission of South Africa always takes into account social consequences and evaluates them in a broader context”, pointed out Andrey Tsyganov.