Launching cooperation between the antimonopoly bodies of Russia and Malaysia
The first bilateral meeting between top officials of FAS and Malaysia Competition Commission
Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Tsyganov and the Chairperson of Malaysia Competition Commission, Ms Tan Sri Dato Seri Siti Norma Yaakob had a meeting on 7 March 2017 in Kuala-Lumpur (Malaysia) at an international conference “Competition law: managing the transformation process”.
During their first bilateral meeting, top officers of the competition authorities of Russia and Malaysia discussed some important issues and the prospects of developing cooperation.
In particular, Andrey Tsyganov informed his colleagues about the main areas of work of Russian antimonopoly body and discussed cases investigated by FAS recently. Special attention was paid to the cases against “Google” transnational corporation and international transport companies – liner container carriers.
“Both cases are an example of investigating violations of the antimonopoly law by large transnational companies that operate in several countries. According to mass media, many international competition bodies are also investigating cases against those companies. Cooperation between competition authorities on the basis of common tools and methods can generate practical results and accelerate case investigation against those companies in various jurisdictions”, emphasized Andrey Tsyganov.
Currently FAS is drafting the Tool Kit to counter unfair practices of large transnational corporations, which will allow to jointly combating cross-border violations of the competition rules. FAS international anti-cartel initiatives, supported by the antimonopoly bodies of EAEU and EEC, will be discussed at the 16th session of UNCTAD Inter-Government Expert Group on Competition Law and Policy (5-7 July 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland).
The parties also discussed the role of competition on socially important markets. For instance, FAS managed to reduce prices for medicinal drugs based on the findings of international comparative analysis of drug prices. Procurement of drugs at new prices will save at least 5 billion RUB of budgetary funds per year. The Chairperson of Malaysia Competition Commission discussed the results of the national analysis of the state of the drug market and relayed the interests in studying Russian experience of researching drug prices and recommendations for protecting competition on the pharmaceutical market.
Andrey Tsyganov informed that FAS is prepared to give the foreign colleagues a method of comparative study of the pharmaceutical market and cooperate on the aspects of developing competition policy in the socially important spheres.
Finally, Deputy Head of the Antimonopoly Service emphasized the high organizational standards and topicality of the agenda of the “Competition law: managing the transformation process” Conference. The event was attended by Viceroy of Malaysia and representatives of the leading competition authorities of APEC economies, which was of considerable significance for developing competition advocacy and professional training of the recently formed antimonopoly body of Malaysia.