FAS TOOK PART IN THE MEETING IN THE 5+1 FORMAT

The Eurasian Economic Commission hosted a meeting of the heads of the authorized bodies of the EAEU member states and a member of the Board (Minister) for Competition and Antimonopoly Regulation

Within the framework of the event, the Head of the Authority Maxim Shaskolskiy said that in 2022 FAS Russia carried out work on adapting antimonopoly regulation to the conditions of external sanctions pressure, preventing monopolization, preventing and suppressing unjustified excessive pricing for certain types of socially significant goods and services.

One of the key events was the legalization of parallel imports. This mechanism allows to reduce the level of power of the copyright holder, reduce prices and create new opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses.

Currently, including at the initiative of FAS Russia, similar norms are being worked out at the level of the EAEU law.

Besides, one of the measures aimed at stabilizing the price situation in commodity markets is the development of exchange trading and the formation of domestic exchange indicators.

FAS Russia jointly with federal authorities and commodity market participants are actively working to improve exchange trading. In particular, as a result of such interaction, the volume of fuel sales on the stock exchange increased and wholesale gasoline prices significantly decreased.

The Head of the Authority also spoke about antimonopoly control in the field of information technology. He noted that protecting consumers from abuse in digital commodity markets is one of the most important tasks and shared the relevant experience of the Authority.

In the nearest future, FAS Russia will send detailed information on the considered cases to the EAEU competition authorities*. It will allow countries to analyze the practices of global digital companies and, where appropriate, apply similar measures of antimonopoly response.

Since January 1, 2023, the chairmanship of the EAEU bodies has passed to the Russian Federation. Within the framework of this activity priorities were set, such as the development and implementation of advanced scientific and technical solutions in the leading sectors of the economy, cooperation in the field of digital transformation, strengthening food security, creating common energy markets and continuing work on the formation of a new transport and logistics infrastructure.

During the event, the Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Tsyganov spoke about the active work on the adoption of UN global standards on international cooperation when combating cross-border cartels. The creation of such a document was initiated by FAS Russia at the last meeting of the UNCTAD Working Group on Cross-Border Cartels.

The most important activity of such a group is the consideration of specific cases by the participating bodies from the EAEU countries and the EEC. The exchange of data within the framework of specific cases is a vivid example of effective regional cooperation. In particular, the success of one of the cases considered by the Authority was determined by the existence of a contractual legal framework and effective cooperation mechanisms provided for parties by the EAEU Treaty.

This practice creates a favorable basis for joint work, as it clearly demonstrates the problems that competition authorities face when investigating specific cases.

For reference:

* This practice is established by the Paragraph 4 of the Article 74 of the EAEU Treaty, which provides for the implementation by the member States of the Union of a coordinated competition policy with respect to the actions of economic entities of third countries