ANDREY TSYGANOV: INTERACTION WITH THE OECD REGIONAL COMPETITION CENTER IS A KEY AREA OF THE FAS RUSSIA INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

A joint seminar of the FAS Russia and the OECD Regional Competition Center was held. This year's event was held in an online format and was dedicated to reviewing the best practices of joint work of competition authorities in law enforcement 

At the opening ceremony, Deputy Head of the FAS Russia Andrey Tsyganov delivered a welcoming speech. He spoke about the interaction between the FAS Russia and the Hungarian Regional Competition Center of OECD (RCC OECD-Hungary).

“Such forms of cooperation allow us to be well informed of the latest developments of the OECD in the field of competition policy, as well as use the experience of this authoritative international organization in the activities of our Authority. A significant value of the RCC's activities lies in ensuring the transfer of practical knowledge, dissemination of the world’s best practices in the field of competition policy, attracting high - level professionals, including managers and experts of the FAS  Russia, to conduct lectures and seminars,” the speaker stressed.

Since the launching of the OECD Regional Competition Center in Budapest in 2005, the FAS employees have regularly participated in seminars organized to discuss both general theoretical and special issues of competition policy and law enforcement. During this period, more than 200 representatives of the Central body and Regional Offices were trained in this format, and taking into account experts from Central and Eastern Europe and CIS countries, this figure increases to several thousand people. According to Andrey Tsyganov, this type of interaction provides an opportunity to get an expert assessment of their activities, establish business contacts with representatives of various competition agencies, exchange experience and present the achievements of the Russian Antimonopoly authority.

“Since 2010, the FAS Russia and the OECD Regional Competition center have been holding regular joint seminars in Russian regions. The topics of each such event are rather various and include discussions on the practical implementation of the powers of Antimonopoly authorities, including the identification and suppression of cartels, economic analysis, transactions of economic concentration, competition in the payment card markets, electric power, retail, and airport services,” Andrey Tsyganov added.

The Deputy Head of the Authority stressed that holding joint seminars with the RCC has become a good tradition. The first joint seminar was held in 2010 in Moscow, in 2013, 2014 and 2019 events were held at the Training and Methodological Center of the FAS Russia in Kazan, and similar seminars were held in Veliky Novgorod, Moscow, Suzdal, and St. Petersburg.

“Today, despite the new conditions in connection with the pandemic, we have come together again, albeit in a video conference format, as part of our joint Seminar on “Cooperation in the field of Antimonopoly law enforcement in the investigation of cross - border cases”, Andrey Tsyganov said.

This workshop was the 9th co-organized event and was held for three days. In the course of its work, participants discussed the most acute problems that competition agencies face today when conducting parallel and joint investigations, as well as consider the best practices of interaction in law enforcement.

Andrey Tsyganov noted that the topic of international cooperation between competition agencies has become particularly relevant not only for the OECD member countries, but also for the majority of countries in the world. It is not by chance that last week the 8th UN conference on competition approved in its final document the Guidelines and procedures for international cooperation of competition authorities, paying special attention to the need to combat transnational cartels.

Lesya Davydova, Head of the International Economic Cooperation Department of the FAS Russia reported on the Guidelines and procedures of UNCTAD. Tatyana Oynvid, Deputy Head of the International Economic Cooperation Department of the FAS Russia spoke about cooperation in law enforcement in the CIS countries on the example of Russia. Anastasia Dokukina, Deputy Head of the International Projects Division, International Economic Cooperation Department of the FAS Russia shared her experience in reviewing global transactions in a global perspective.

“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the OECD-GVH RCC on its 15th anniversary and wish you continued prosperity and success in your activities, which are incredibly important, relevant and valuable in today's globalized world, as well as the implementation of new ambitious projects that promote international cooperation and maintain fair competition in all beneficiary countries,” the Deputy Head of the FAS Russia concluded.