ANDREY TSARIKOVSKIY: WITHOUT HELP OF THE SOCIETY, THERE WILL BE NO EFFICIENT COUNTERING

Deputy Head of FAS gave a welcoming address to the II Eurasian Cartel Forum. He highlighted the importance of the issues under discussion: “A lot of cartels are typical for Russia, it is a heritage from the planned economy of the USSR; plus economic concentration is extremely high in Russia. All countries in the Eurasian space have similar problems”

Andrey Tsarikovskiy emphasized the significance attached to anti-cartel efforts by the Government: the Cartel Forum is included in 2023 Inter-Departmental Programme for exposing and suppressing cartels, approved this year by the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation.

Discussing Russian experience of combating cartels, Deputy Head of FAS pointed out: “In the early days we learned a lot and absorbed the international experience, now we ourselves ca  explain and help colleagues from other jurisdictions”.

He reminded about a modern program, devised by Russia competition agency to expose digital cartels – “Digital Cat”.

Andrey Tsarikovskiy concluded, however, that if the society does not embrace FAS anti-cartel efforts, there will be no efficient countering: “No measures by public bodies can be efficient without the support of the society”.

“We must observe the balance of efficient protection of the economy from cartels without making it a “rope round the neck” of business. In my opinion, we have managed to find this balance”, summed up his speech Deputy Head of FAS.