IGOR ARTEMIEV: FAS AND ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN BUSINESSES WILL FORM WORKING GROUPS ON IMPROVING ANTIMONOPOLY REGULATION

The Working Groups will help solve particular competition issues

A traditional meeting of Head of FAS Igor Artemiev with representatives of the Association of European Businesses focused on the pharmaceutical industry, relations between retail chains and suppliers, accessibility of medicine for the population and legislative initiative of the antimonopoly authority.

Attention was paid to introducing parallel import. Head of FAS pointed out that it is a multi-sided process that is organized within the frame of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Regarding medicinal drugs, Igor Artemiev informed that drugs must be registered in Russia under a simplified procedure if drugs are already inspected and registered by the legging foreign regulators.

“It should shorten significantly the path of Russian consumers to the best drugs. Now all controlling procedures take additional 3-5 years. So the questions must be sorted out to the benefit of our population”, said Head of FAS.

Igor Artemiev also informed that the forced licensing mechanism will definitely be formalized in the law.

“Lately, we have made considerable progress in advancing our draft law. It is expected that the draft law will be passed by the State Duma of the Russian Federation in the spring session. I would like to remind that as the basis we took the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and devised relevant amendments. With coming them into effect, to the purposes of state security and protecting the life of our population, the Government of the Russian Federation will be able to pass a formulae of such drug to a Russian laboratory for own production in the territory of Russia with further compensation of the right-holders. This mechanism, however, must be employed very rarely and only in particular cases”, explained Head of FAS.

Igor Artemiev positively assessed establishment of procurement unions since in his opinion it is a bona fide global practice. He stated, however, that of members of a procurement union start joining latent price collusion, such actions are classified as cartels that are punished, particularly, by criminal liability.

Head of FAS also touched the changed in the law on trade. He pointed out that amendments to the Law on trade should be “preserved” and there is no need to tighten it. In his opinion, economic incentives and “soft force” should be used to resolve problems, leading to positive outcome and the balance of interests between the regulators, suppliers, retail chains and consumers.

Summing up the results of the meeting between FAS and the Association of European Businesses, Igor Artemiev said:

“I’d like to express big thanks to CEO of the Association of European Businesses Frank Schauff and other representatives for the constructive discussion of important aspects of antimonopoly regulation”.