ANTIMONOPOLY EXPERTS ASSOCIATION PREPARED FIRST INDEPENDENT OPINION UNDER THE FRAME OF AGREEMENT WITH FAS

On 24 May 2019, Head of FAS Igor Artemiev and Chairman of the Antimonopoly Experts Association, Andrey Rego, signed an Agreement on giving independent opinions on the issues within the competence of the Federal Antimonopoly Service

The document regulates the procedure for the Association presenting its independent opinions to the antimonopoly body regarding in-house appeal, cases on violating the antimonopoly and tariff laws and other cases and disputes.

Under the frame of the Agreement, at the beginning of June a Working Group of the Association drafted an independent opinion for FAS Presidium and the Appeal Collegium on absence of uniformity in antimonopoly enforcement practice in a particular law-enforcement situation, and the most correct, in view of the experts, application of the Law “On Protection of Competition” in this sphere.

As Head of FAS Legal Department Artem Molchanov pointed out, involvement of social institutions in the activities of the authorities becomes especially important in the modern economic conditions. The goals can be reached only by uniting efforts and steering them on the right course.

“In our case it means developing competition on the markets. The history of cooperation between FAS and the Antimonopoly Experts Association comes to a dozen of years. The outcome of this work includes, in particular, publishing collections of legal positions on various aspects of FAS activities designed to unify the law enforcement practice.  The Agreement signed in May 2019 will add to our efficient interactions”, explained Artem Molchanov.

Oleg Moskvitin, a member of the General Council of the Antimonopoly Experts Association drew attention to the significance of participation of the expert community in shaping not only the antimonopoly law but also its enforcement practice.

“FAS is the first federal body in Russia that actively uses the amicus curie institution considering complaints about decisions of FAS regional Offices. Undoubtedly, it concerns the most complex and ambivalent issues that require elaboration and further development of unified administrative practice across the entire Russia. In many cases opinions of the Antimonopoly Experts Association help each fair and correct resolution of particular disputes as well as form the optimal approaches to applying the law in the future”, Oleg Moskvitin.