Yulia Yudina: FAS suggests mandatory disqualification for officials of regional tariff regulators

For failure to execute decisions and injunctions of the antimonopoly authority that entered into legal force

FAS presented the results of its work in H1 2017 on considering pre-trial disputes and disagreements, issuing injunctions and abolishing order of regional tariff regulators.

In that period the Antimonopoly Service made 153 decisions. The leader is water supply with 50 decisions, heating supply is on the second position (32), and the electric power industry – on the third place (21).

“In 74 cases FAS issued injunctions to execute certain actions to eliminate the violations”, reported Head of FAS Department for Regional Tariff Regulation, Yulia Yudina. “So far, 40 have already been executed, 32 are under execution and 2 are not executed”.

“If a regional tariff regulator fails to duly execute a FAS decision, the Service imposes a 50,000 RUB fine upon the Head of the executive body of the subject of the Russian Federation in tariff regulation and issu8es an injunction with the new deadline for executing FAS decision”, added Yulia Yudina. “In case of a repeated non-execution administrative proceedings will be initiated and filed to Court to disqualify the official”.

“Now disqualification is an alternative measure: either a fine or disqualification. FAS intends to make this punishment for recurrent non-execution mandatory”, continued Yulia Yudina. “Based on the established legal practice FAS has already started drafted a law on improving the Code on Administrative Violations in the part of changing liability for failure to execute  injunctions and decisions of the antimonopoly body that have come into force”.

“FAS proposals are that of our acts are not executed timely, an official of a regional regulator will be fined form 30,000 RUB to 50,000 RUB and for recurrent violations – mandatory disqualification for up to three years”, stated Yulia Yudina.