IGOR ARTEMIEV: ANTITRUST AUTHORITIES ARE INVOKED TO PROTECT THE ECONOMY IN THE FACE OF A PANDEMIC AND DEVELOP MEASURES TO RESTORE IT

This was stated by the Head of the FAS Russia at a meeting of Heads of authorized bodies of the member States of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and a member of the Collegium (Minister) for competition and antitrust regulation Mr. Serik Zhumangarin. The event was held on May 28, 2020 by video conference

Participants of the meeting reviewed the initiative antimonopoly investigations of the Eurasian Economic Commission in cross-border markets, discussed the use of intellectual property and digital technologies in conducting competition reviews in the area of legal relations. Special attention was paid to the work of antimonopoly authorities in the context of the pandemic.

"Protecting and promoting competition is particularly important at a time when companies are suffering from an economic crisis and markets are operating in exceptional circumstances. The antimonopoly authorities of the EEU should not only protect the economy in the conditions in which we found ourselves during the pandemic, but also continuously develop measures that will allow us to restore it more painlessly after the crisis, because competition is the foundation of successful economic development," said Igor Artemiev, Head of the FAS Russia.

During the meeting, participants agreed that the pandemic could increase the number of anti-competitive practices, abuse of dominant position and speculative behavior of companies on the verge of bankruptcy. Therefore, antimonopoly regulators should suppress all such actions.

It was also noted that the EEC is increasing its law enforcement practice, the results of which are very important for the EEU countries, because the Commission's attention is focused on such markets as the markets for medicines, medical products and equipment. The social significance of these markets for the citizens, their import dependence combined with a number of other factors indicates their risk exposure to restricting competition, in particular, anti-competitive actions of its major participants.

The meeting also touched upon the issue of cooperation between the antimonopoly authorities of the EEU and the EEC in developing and presenting an agreed position in international fora, namely, on the platform of UNCTAD.

"Thanks to our joint efforts, we managed to implement the initiative to adopt an important document for all of us - Guidelines and procedures for international cooperation in accordance with Section F of the Set of multilaterally agreed principles and rules for controlling restrictive business practices, which is planned to be adopted during the 8th UN Conference on reviewing the Set on competition, scheduled for October this year," said Deputy Head of the FAS Russia Andrey Tsyganov.

At the event the FAS Russia was also represented by the Head of the Department for Control over Social Sphere and Trade Timofey Nizhegorodtsev, Head of the Anti-Cartel Department Andrey Tenishev, Head of the Department for Regulation of Telecommunications and Information Technology Elena Zaeva, Head of the Legal Department Artem Molchanov, Deputy Head of the Department for International Economic Cooperation Tatiana Oinvid.