HEAD OF THE FAS RUSSIA: SAVINGS FROM RE-REGISTRATION OF PRICES FOR VITAL AND ESSENTIAL MEDICINES ARE AT LEAST 40 BILLION RUB ANNUALLY

The authority revised more than 24 thousand prices, more than 7 thousand prices were reduced by an average of 30%

Maxim Shaskolsky took part in the 5th International Scientific and Practical Conference "Support for competition: economic and legal mechanisms to ensure a balance of interests of production and consumption" organized by the FAS Russia and the journal "Competition Law".

In his speech, among other thingshe  summed up the work of the antimonopoly service over the past year. In 2021, the Government of the Russian Federation approved the National Competition Development Plan for 2021-2025. It provides for measures aimed at ensuring effective and transparent management of state and municipal property.

The results of the implementation of the National Plan for 2018-2020 have been summarized. Particularly, in such naturally monopolistic spheres as public postal communication and heat supply, rules of non-discriminatory access have been adopted. As a result of the cancellation of intra-network roaming, savings for citizens amounted to about 6 billion rubles and at the same time the volume of communication services provided increased. Significant savings of funds were also provided as a result of the elimination of the so-called "banking roaming" in the financial sector.

Among the current priorities of the FAS Russia is also the further improvement of law enforcement practice in digital markets, the formation of approaches to the definition of such markets, aas well as the assessment of the state of competition.

Maxim Shaskolsky noted that at the same time the authority considers the combination of state regulation and self-regulation to be the most effective in digital markets.

Thus, in 2021 the Basic Principles of interaction of various participants with digital platforms (aggregators) were adopted. According to the FAS Russia the compliance will ensure both a balance of interests in the market and consumer protection, as well as the innovative development of digital markets.

Confirmation of the possibility of self-regulation of digital markets in Russia is the settlement agreement concluded in January 2022 between the FAS, Yandex and the applicants in the antimonopoly case.

The reason for this was the recognition by Yandex LLC of the validity of the warning issued by the FAS and the implementation of its provisions. Currently, the company has taken all necessary actions aimed at eliminating discriminatory conditions in its own search engine.

As a result of the operational interaction of the antimonopoly authority, Yandex and interested parties, mechanisms have been implemented that allow all market participants to develop successfully.

Besides the FAS Russia has carried out mandatory re-registration of the maximum selling prices for medicines (VED) of all manufacturers registered in Russia. In total, more than 14 thousand prices have been revised, more than 7 thousand have been reduced by an average of 30%. The savings for the budget and citizens of the country are at least 40 billion rubles annually.

In order to improve the work in the field of public procurement, an "optimization" package of amendments to the Law on the Contract System No. 44-FZ was adopted. It will allow to exclude numerous cases of postponement of the terms of competitive procedures for the implementation of socially significant facilities and national projects.