FAS issued a warning to the Chief Architecture and Urban Development Department of the Moscow Region

FAS found signs of violating the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” in the actions of the authority. The Chief Architecture Departmentof the Moscow Region recommended particular designers to developers

“Technosphere” sent a request to FAS regarding legitimacy of the actions of the Chief Architecture and Urban Development Department of the Moscow Region.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service established that issuing urban development plans for land plots, the authority attached a Memo “How to choose a design company correctly”, where it recommended particular designers. It gave the latter advantages for doing business.

The Memo stated, in particular, that the quality of design documentation and engineering survey determine not only the object parameters and the construction costs but also obtaining a Certificate on approving architectural and city-planning concept and construction permit. The Memo also listed the criteria for selecting a designer and emphasized that in the opinion of the Chief Architecture Departmentof the Moscow Region the companies that signed a Charter* with the Government of the Moscow region meet the above criteria.

Deputy Head of FAS Rachik Petrosyan pointed out: “The Charter mentioned in the Memo has no force or effect. Under the Urban Development Code of the Russian Federation, to carry out design works a designer must be a member of a self-regulatory organization. Such membership means that it meets the requirements specified in the Urban Development Code. The information given by the authority in the Memo has signs of violating the antimonopoly law since it recommends particular designers to developers, creates advantages for these organizations and can result in restricting competition on the market”.

The Chief Architecture and Urban Development Department of the Moscow Region was issued a warning to stop the above actions (omissions) by 7 October 2017: withdraw the Memo “How to choose a design company correctly”, and put a notice on its official web-site that the above actions were contrary to the antimonopoly law.

* Charter “On collaboration and cooperation between the Government of the Moscow region and organizations involved in area planning and architectural-and-construction design in the Moscow region”.