FAS AND MOSCOW OFAS HELD JOINT PUBLIC DISCUSSIONS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT PRACTICE

The focus of the event on 6 December 2019 was the practice of applying the antimonopoly law and the law on public procurement.

Deputy Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department, Mikhail Nesterenko, gave a report on tightening liability for cartels.

In his view, cartels are a rather pressing issue that has a significant adverse impact upon the state of Russian economy. In August 2017, the President of Russia set the task for FAS on tightening criminal and administrative liability for anticompetitive agreements.

“For instance, on, 28 November, the Government of the Russian Federation submitted a FAS-drafted package of amendments for consideration of the State Duma of RF Federal Assembly”, said Mikhail Nesterenko. The changes are planned to the Law “On Protection of Competition”, the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedural Code as well as the Code on Administrative Violations.

First of all, the changes tighten liability for bid-rigging collusions and for participation of shareholders and members of collegial bodies and company directors for cartel participation; introducing special fines for obstructing inspections carried out by the antimonopoly authority.

“To introduce additional measures of general and private prevention, we also suggest to establish a relevant Register of cartel members that will have an informational status”, pointed out the speaker.

Head of FAS Moscow OFAS Armen Khanyan reported that a system of full-cycle antimonopoly compliance is practically fully introduced by the authorities in Moscow that pay special attention to it, which is good news.

He informed the participants about the work and the results achieved by the Moscow antimonopoly body and performance of a specialized Department, aimed at executing the National Competition Development Plan (2018-2020).

“We believe that applying legal and organizational measures in their totality, designed to observe antimonopoly compliance, will help prevent violations of the antimonopoly law”, pointed out Armen Khanyan.

Chairman of the Committee for Developing the Procurement System at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Olga Pelekhataya, staff of Moscow OFAS, representatives of business and law firms took part in the event.