RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVED DRAFT LAW ON INCREASING EFFICIENCY OF SUPPRESSING ANTICOMPETITIVE ACTIONS OF THE AUTHORITIES

Upon adopting the final version of the document, execution of FAS orders cannot be suspended if appealed at Court

On 8 August 2019, the Government of the Russian Federation approved FAS draft law on increasing efficiency of suppressing anticompetitive actions by the authorities. The amendments to the Law “On Protection of Competition” are drafted by the Antimonopoly Service to pursue the National Competition Development Plan.

Head of FAS Legal Department, Artem Molchanov said: “The authorities commit a lot of antimonopoly violations. At the moment, after FAS recognizes that the authorities commit a violation and issue an order to rectify the situation and restore the principled of fair competition on the market, the authorities enjoy their right and appeal FAS acts at Court. In this case, execution of the order is suspended until the date when the ruling of Arbitration Court comes into effect. At the same time, suspending the order of the antimonopoly body creates preconditions to make prompt elimination of the exposed violations impossible and, as a consequence, form unfavourable competitive conditions on the market”.

According to Artem Molchanov, in 2018 the antimonopoly body issued 568 orders regarding the authorities and local self-government bodies, of which 212 orders were appealed at Court, and 4 orders were recognized invalid by judiciary.

The draft law specifies that if appealed, orders of the antimonopoly body should not be suspended unless otherwise provided for in judiciary acts.

Artem Molchanov pointed out that “the proposed changes will help increase efficiency of suppressing anticompetitive decisions of the authorities. Ultimately, it will facilitate achieving one of the main goals of the National Competition Development Plan – reducing by half violations of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” by 2020”.

Now the Government of the Russian Federation shall forward the draft law to the State Duma for adopting.