SERGEY PUZYERVSKIY: EXECUTING NATIONAL PROJECTS IN CURCUMVENTION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF COMPETITION WILL NOT GENERATE POSITIVE EFECTS

FAS legislative initiatives under the frame of the National Competition Development Plan, the experience and results of implementing antimonopoly compliance by the authorities and the practice of hearing antimonopoly cases by Courts in the Amur region were discussed in the Far East Federal District

On 25 June 2019, FAS bodies of theFar East Federal District gathered for a regional workshop in Blagoveschensk. The event was moderated by Head of Amur OFAS Alexander Degodev.

Deputy Head of FAS Sergey Puzyrevskiy made a report on the progress in fulfilling the National Competition Development Plan.

He said that “today the quality and characteristics of markets are changing in the real-time mode, and we are devising the fifth antimonopoly package for new approaches in regulating entities that control markets by accumulating colossal data”.

The National Plan requires a large-scale reform of natural monopolies and tariff regulation.

“Natural monopolies possess unlimited market power so only the state can influence them. We believe that that the sphere of natural monopolies need planned administration of the economy of such companies through the system of state price setting”, emphasized Sergey Puzyrevskiy.

He described preliminary results in fulfilling No.618 Presidential Order in the Amur region. Last year, the region decreased violations of the antimonopoly law by the authorities (-17%) and the number of unitary enterprises on competitive markets (-7%) and increased the share of procurement from small and medium companies and socially-oriented NGOs (to 35.15 % in 2018 in comparison with 30.74% in 2017).

Finally, Sergey Puzyrevskiy drew the workshop’s attention to the fact that National projects* requiring considerable funding must be fulfilled on the principles of competition, otherwise they will not generate a positive effect for the national economy and regional executive bodies and FAS regional Offices must take this into account.

First Deputy Chair of the Government of the Amur region, Tatiana Polovaikina, in her welcoming address pointed out that such working meetings reinforce cooperation between regional authorities and FAS. She stressed that the Amur region is working to mainstream the Road Map for competition development, comprising 35 key markets while regional executive bodies had approved the Regulations on antimonopoly compliance.

Head of Yakutia OFAS Yuri Ignatiev made a report about the experience of implementing antimonopoly compliance in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia).

“Introducing antimonopoly compliance in the work of the authorities is not a panacea but one of the tools to create favourable environment for doing business”, pointed out Head of FAS Legal Department Artem Molchanov. “Unfortunately, we do not see significant changes in developing competition at the federal level so far, the same problems remain year-to-year” cartelization of the economy, difficulties for developing small and medium companies, imperfect tariff regulation, a high share of the state in the national economy. At the same time we register the first positive results at the regional level. We expect that the measures of the Road Map for competition development in various sectors of the economy approved by the Government of Russia will turn the tide”.

Chair of the Amur Regional Arbitration Court, Svetlana Antonova, informed that each antimonopoly case investigated by the Court is unique. She also emphasized FAS robust law-making activities: drafting several large antimonopoly packages and amendments to the procurement law. A judge of the Amur Regional Arbitration Court, Evgeny Varlamov, detailed judicial practice of considering disputes involving the Antimonopoly Service.

Reference:

* No. 204 Order of the President of Russia “On national goals and strategic objectives for developing the Russian Federation until 2024” of 7 May 2018.