SERGEY PUZYREVSKIY: NEW MODEL OF COMPETITION DEVELOPMENT IS FORMED IN RUSSIA
Deputy Head of FAS was a speaker at the V Regional Research-to-Practice Conference on “pressing issues of antimonopoly enforcement” a view of the regulator, business and experts” in Kaliningrad
“In the past 20 years FAS travelled an unprecedented path for competition development and protection. New challenges that happen to be today put the tasks for us to change the antimonopoly policy in our country”, said DeputyHead of FAS Sergey Puzyrevskiy.
He informed that the avenues for improving the state competition policy are outlined at the federal and regional levels. For example, the National Competition Development Plan is adopted; Road Maps are approved at the federal, regional and municipal levels; the key competition development targets are set for different sectors.
“The main aim of such an integrated approach is to reduce the share of state participation in the market economy. At the moment the trends of state monopolist raise barriers to prevent market entry of new players and create unequal conditions for developing competitive relations”, added Deputy Head of FAS. “Small and medium business should form the basis competition development”.
Another challenge is a significant influence of digital companies that have the dominant position on the real sector of the economy. According to Sergey Puzyrevskiy, information and technologies can be disseminated and used among participants of economic relations under the frame of legitimate cooperation or for the purposes of restricting competition. In practice, intensive development of information technologies, apart from positive results also leads to anticompetitive practices. FAS has examples as to how the structure of modern markets changes in view of both positive and negative practices.
In response to the new challenges, FAS has drafted the “fifth antimonopoly package”. Considerable efforts were undertaken to discuss it by the Working Group of the “Digital Economy” Autonomous Non-Profit Organization and find solutions to the main issues. Its participants, for instance, arrived to a consensus about approaches to defining dominance, numerical indicators were introduced, new elements for control over economic concentration were found, and a possibility for FAS to issue orders on technology transfer to protect and develop competition was specified.
Deputy Head of FAS also informed about the ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on parallel import and intellectual property.
“What does the ruling mean” If a brand owner abuses one’s rights, for example, restricts competition and overrates the price, such actions can be recognized unjustified. Companies that ban import and sales of their goods in Russia create conditions to monopolizing the market and gain unreasonable advantages”, clarified Sergey Puzyrevskiy.
As Deputy Head of FAS pointed out, in view of these circumstances, the norms of the Law on competition should be extrapolated to results of intellectual activity. It is necessary to demine the specifics of antimonopoly law enforcement on digital markets.
Obsolete law on natural monopolies is another barrier against competition development, in the opinion of Sergey Puzyrevskiy.
“The regulatory framework does not consider the actual state of competition development on the relevant goods markets and restrains transition of natural monopolies to the state of competitive markets FAS has drafted a law that abolishes the law on natural monopolies and changes the criteria for regulating such organizations”, underlined Deputy Head of FAS.
Summing up the first part of the event, Sergey Puzyrevskiyemphasized that implementing the National Competition Development Plan and adopting the draft laws will increase economic efficiency and competitiveness of economic entities, reduce service prices, expand the goods assortment and improve consumer satisfaction.
Background:
The event was organized by the Antimonopoly Counsel Association with FAS support.