FAS delegation took part in APEC Forum in Peru

On 18 - 22 August 2016, the Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department, Andrey Tenishev, and his Deputy Mukhamed Khamukov took part in an APEC Forum workshop of the Working Group for competition policy and law (CPLG): “International experience: the role of leniency programmes for suppressing anticompetitive conduct – efficiency of leniency programmes in combating cartels”.

The practical objective of the workshop was to exchange experience of applying leniency programmes in APEC economies to improve anti-cartel practices in the Asian-Pacific region. Experts, including professors from Pennsylvania University, Joseph Harrington, and George Washington University, William Kovacic, who gave lectures on the modern methods of cartel investigations.

Participants specially emphasized the significance of combating cartels by the antimonopoly bodies. In particular, experts agreed that currently more than 50% resources in the developed economies are controlled by cartels. Discussing the issue, William Kovacic stated that “just countering bid-rigging the state can compensate all investments in an antimonopoly body”.

Mukhamed Khamukov gave a report on Russian current leniency programme, emphasizing that the “main programme objective is to assist the antimonopoly authority in conducting investigations, obtaining evidence and terminating cartels activities”.  He said that Russian leniency programme is constantly improving; and one of the latest novelties is an option to reduce punishment to the minimum fine for the second and third applicants.

The Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department, Andrey Tenishev also had a working meeting with the Head of the Enforcement Division of Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC), Iskandar Ismail. The parties discussed practical issues of cartel investigation and cooperation opportunities.

“Such international workshops with experts undoubtedly facilitate exchanging advanced anti-cartel methods and practices. In my opinion, the most interesting aspect of discussions at the workshop was efficiency of leniency programmes combating “live cartels”. The practices in many jurisdictions show that “weak cartels”, or according to some experts “dead cartels”, often take advantage of the leniency programme at the stage of disintegrating. In this context the Forum participants were interested in Russian experience of simultaneously applying reactive and pro-active methods of cartel investigation, when possibility of cartel exposure does not depend on an application for admitting a cartel”, pointed out Andrey Tenishev.