HEAD OF FAS RUSSIA PRESENTED ANNUAL REPORT ON THE STATE OF COMPETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

On September 29, Maxim Shaskolskiy, Head of FAS Russia, reported to Mikhail Mishustin, Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, on the key achievements in the field of state competition policy in 2021

Head of FAS Russia noted that a set of measures aimed at ensuring the stable operation of domestic markets, preventing commodity shortages and supporting business was adopted at the state level.

In order to prevent price increases for citizens in 2021-2022, the authority carried out a lot of work to monitor pricing in the food market. The authority managed to reduce the average level of margins on products in 11 federal retail chains from 22% to 7.5% as of the current moment.

Besides, FAS Russia excluded 6.9 billion rubles from the regulated tariffs, which resource-supplying organizations included in them unreasonably. It allowed reducing the costs of citizens and legal entities.

Following the results of mandatory re-registration of prices for vital and essential medicines in 2021-2022, FAS Russia revised almost 14 thousand prices, of which more than 7 thousand were reduced by an average of 30%. Savings for citizens and the budget as a result of the price reduction is at least 40 billion rubles a year.

In 2021, FAS Russia considered cases against a number of "digital giants". As a result, multibillion-dollar penalties were imposed on companies for violations of antimonopoly legislation:

-         Google – 2 billion rubles;

-         Apple – 906 million rubles;

-         Booking – 1.3 billion rubles (the organization has already paid the fine to the federal budget).

Besides, FAS Russia and the largest Russian IT companies (Yandex, Sberbank, VKontakte, Wildberries, Ozon and others) signed the Principles of Interaction between participants in digital markets. It will contribute to the creation of an institution of self-regulation for the industry and increase the competitiveness of Russian companies in the global market.

The "fifth antimonopoly package" developed by FAS Russia is being prepared for consideration in the State Duma. Its adoption will allow forming the legal mechanisms to counteract "digital cartels" and ensure the protection of consumers from abuse of market power by digital platforms.

In the field of public procurement, an "optimization" package of amendments to the Law on the Contract System has been adopted. It is aimed at simplifying the procurement procedure, digitalizing their conduct and combating "professional complainants".

The authority is also actively working on the development of exchange trading. In 2021, the volume of sales of mineral fertilizers, various types of petroleum products, timber, and certain types of food products on the stock exchange has been increased. Further development of exchange trading will allow forming the transparent price indicators and reduce dependence on external price shocks in foreign markets.

Concluding the report, Head of FAS Russia stressed that now the key document in the field of competition policy is the National Competition Development Plan for 2021-2025. The measures laid down in it are aimed at developing small and medium-sized businesses, ensuring effective and transparent management of state and municipal property, eliminating administrative barriers and distortions of the competitive environment.