BELARUS-RUSSIA EXPERT COUNCIL ON DEVELOPING COMPETITION IN SOCIALLY IMPORTANT MARKETS WILL BE FORMED IN THE UNION STATE

The agreement was reached at a joint session of the Presidium of FAS and the Collegium of Belarus Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade

The first joint session of the Presidium of FAS and the Collegium of Belarus Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade took place on 11 September 2018. The parties discussed opportunities for systematic cooperation towards developing competition on socially important markets of both countries.

It concerns pharmaceuticals and telecommunications markets as well as tariff-setting methods and parallel import.

The parties agreed to form a joint Belarus-Russia Expert Council for developing competition in socially important markets. It will comprise representatives of the competition authorities, other government agencies and business communities from the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation. Head of FAS Igor Artemiev and Belarus Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade, Vladimir Koltovich, are appointed Expert Council co-chairs. Executive Secretaries of the Council are Head of FAS Department of International Economic Cooperation, Lesya Davydova, and Head of the Belarus Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade, Olesya Konstantinovich.

Heads of competition authorities of Russia and Belarus exchanged information about their significant achievements. Head of FAS Igor Artemiev informed his Belorussian colleagues on the work on possible  introduction of forced licensing in Russia to enable manufacturing vital and essential medicine; FAS proposals on approving the benchmark tariffs in the housing-and-utility sector, communications, the electric power industry; on the study of air fair e-booking systems’ and abolishing intra-network roaming in Russia.

The parities outlined further collaborative agenda for the Expert Council as well as bilateral cooperation between competition authorities of Russia and Belarus.

The parties agreed to organize collaborative Round Table in 2018 and at the beginning of 2019 on roaming, regulation of the pharmaceutical market and parallel import.

The working meeting on activity of the Expert Council and proposals of the parties on the list of the priority markets will be held during the Russian Competition Week later this month.