ANDREY TSARIKOVSKIY: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION HAS CHANGED THE ENTIRE ECONOMY INCLUDING ITS ANTIMONOPOLY REGULATION

Deputy Head of FAS demonstrated the landscape of economic transformations

“We are often asked when the antimonopoly body will stop drafting amendments to the law.  We are not able to stop, however, since changes that take place in the economy in the context of digital transformation force us to change the fundamental definitions of antimonopoly regulation. In my opinion, the law is obsolete to a considerable extent and should be reviewed in the near future”, said Stats-Secretary, Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Tsarikovskiy at the antimonopoly forum of the “Corporate Counsel Association”.

Deputy Head of FAS underlined that, first of all, the criteria of dominance and market boundaries must be changed. He outlined a case when market share is not a determining factor.

“A classical example is Booking.com, its site takes only 6% on the market of hotel services, but this internet-platform determined the entire conduct of other players”, pointed out Andrey Tsarikovskiy.

Another market specifics, according to Deputy Head of FAS, is their globalization.

He also stated that some precedents happen due to a certain backwardness of the law. “Bayer-Monsanto” merger is one of such examples.

“To reverse the trend, we drafted the “fifth antimonopoly package”. We became the second country in the world that has developed such law. In the near future it will be put for a broad public discussion at the level of the Government of the Russian Federation”, underlined Andrey Tsarikovskiy.

He also described changes in FAS work in the digital economy, mentioning cartel investigation as an example. Most transformations occurred in the area of inspections.

“Today, in the course of inspections of anticompetitive agreements, we aim to find evidence of a cartel since the fact of cartel existence is already known to us”, explained Deputy Head of FAS.

“There is an argument that the one who changes can win but also can lose. If we do not change, however, we will definitely lose”, concluded Andrey Tsarikovskiy.