Chief Architecture and Urban Development Department of the Moscow Region executed a FAS warning

The Department withdrew a memo that recommended developers to use particular designers

On 17 October 2017, the Chief Architecture and Urban Development Department of the Moscow Region published a notice on its official web-site about terminating actions that contained signs of breaching the antimonopoly law.

Issuing an urban development plan for a land plot, the Department used to enclose a Memo “How to chose a design company correctly” with recommendations to turn to particular designers.

The Memo stated that not only object parameters and construction costs depend on the quality of design documentation and engineering surveys but also obtaining a Certificate on approval an architectural and urban construction image and a construction permit. The Memo also listed the criteria for choosing a designer and clarified that the organizations that signed the Charter* with the Government of the Moscow region, in the opinion of the Chief Architecture Department of the Moscow region met the above criteria.

Then FAS decided that this information had signs of violating the antimonopoly law because the Memo recommended developers to use particular designers, created advantages for them and could lead to competition restriction.  Based on that, the antimonopoly body issues a warning to the Chief Architecture Department of the Moscow region to withdraw the Memo “How to chose a design company correctly” by 7 October 2017, and publish a relevant notice on its official web-site.

Deputy Head of FAS Rachik Petrosyan, pointed out: “Since our warning is executed, FAS shall not open an antimonopoly case against the Chief Architecture Department of the Moscow regionand impose a fine. This is a clear example how efficient is the mechanism of warnings: the issue is eliminated quickly, the rights of stakeholders are resorted without lengthy litigation”.

* Charter “On interaction and cooperation between the Government of the Moscow region and organizations involved in urban planning and architectural-and-construction design in the Moscow region”.