Andrey Tenishev: more than 80% of cartel cases concern bid-rigging

On 2 March 2016, at a workshop in the course of an extended FAS Collegium, the Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department Andrey Tenishev discussed the results of monitoring cases under Articles 11, 11.1 and 16 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” and inspecting economic entities.

The Head of the Department pointed out that such monitoring takes place every six months. The latest data showed a significant increase in the number of initiated cases. “Overall in 2015 FAS regional bodies opened 409 cases under Article 11 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”, 2/3 of which are cartels. More than 80% of cartel cases relate to bid-rigging”, emphasized Andrey Tenishev.

According to him, the increased number of cases can be explained by several factors: a lot of cartels exposed on the market are caused by a growth of prices for food products, more frequent bid-rigging, and many others.

The speaker gave positive and negative examples of the work of regional bodies in Articles 11 and 16 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” in 2015 and controversial issues at hand.

Among positive examples, he emphasized an enhanced quality of evidentiary base on the cases for violating Article 11 and intensified efforts towards cooperation with the law enforcement bodies and regulators to expose and suppress cartel activities and other anticompetitive agreements.

Andrey Tenishev also listed errors and violations made by the regional bodies in the course of unscheduled inspections and when classifying violations of the antimonopoly law.

Deputy Head of FAS Alexander Kinevadded that anticompetitive agreements constitute the most serious violations of the antimonopoly law and called upon FAS regional bodies to enhance efficiency of the proceedings. He states that “FAS needs that your cases focus on truly serious issues and the social sphere that affect the life of a region, the economy and the social sphere.”