Antimonopoly regulation of business relations: the problems and prospects of improvement

The report on this issue was delivered on 23 November 2016 by Deputy Head of FAS Department for Control over Financial Markets, Lilia Belyaeva, at the Conference on “Stability vs Diversity: searching for a better model of legal regulation of the economy”. The Conference was organized by Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

Apart from the official from the antimonopoly body, attendees included representatives of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation; Arbitration Courts, associations of lawyers and businessmen; and the academic community.

Lilia Belyaeva outlined the already adopted amendments to the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” and their enforcement practice as well as changes to the law planned by FAS.

Among the possible amendments to the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” Deputy Head of FAS Department mentioned those concerning introduction of antimonopoly compliance. She specially drew attention of the Conference participants to the difference between the Russian model of antimonopoly compliance from the models employed in other countries, particularly, its mandatory nature for certain market participants.

The speaker reported that FAS drafted amendments to the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Violations to differentiate fines imposed for concluding and participating in the agreements prohibited by the law and exercising prohibited concerted actions, depending on the level of public danger of such violations.

Lilia Belyaeva also focused on impossibility of applying antimonopoly remedies to the holders of exclusive rights for the results of intellectual activities who abused such rights and their market position.

The speaker explained to the conference participants that this circumstance is due to the relevant exemptions from the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”, and said that the antimonopoly body is intended to legislatively regulate possible mechanisms of state influence in such cases, especially related to selling such socially important goods in the Russian Federation as medicinal drugs and medical products.

Commenting FAS efforts on devising the National Competition Development Plan, designed to lessen state participation in the economy in order to promote competition, Lilia Belyaeva reminded that “other amendments to the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” devised by FAS are similarly oriented – amendments obligating to coordinate with the antimonopoly body establishing and changing types of activity of state and municipal unitary enterprises.

In that part of the report, the speaker highlighted that the FAS position had not changed: “such enterprises on competitive markets are inexpedient because it distorts the competitive environment”. Therefore, as Lilia Belyaeva stated, the current package of amendments does not provide for the antimonopoly body agreeing for such companies entering the markets.