FAS: PRICE STABILIZATION IN FOOD MARKETS IS A PRIORITY FOR ALL ANTIMONOPOLY AUTHORITIES

Gennady Magazinov, Deputy Head of FAS Russia, told this during a round table of experts from foreign competition authorities

The key topic of the event was the activity of antimonopoly authorities in socially significant markets.

Larisa Vovkivskaya, Head of the Department for Control over Agro-industrial Complex of FAS Russia, spoke about food commodity markets monitoring by antimonopoly authorities in order to prevent unjustified price increases for agricultural products. The specific features of the industry affecting both the development of competition and the formation of prices were also noted. In addition, one of the priority tasks of FAS Russia in the context of the implementation of measures to stabilize the price situation was considered - monitoring compliance with antimonopoly legislation when providing subsidies to agricultural producers.

Nadezhda Sharavskaya, Head of the Department for Control over Social Sphere, Trade and Non-Production Services of FAS Russia, told about the importance of maintaining a balance between supply and demand in consumer markets. She stressed that in case of violation of this balance, antimonopoly authorities have three main tasks: qualification of problems, monitoring of the situation and taking response measures if the reason for price changes is related to violation of antimonopoly legislation. The speaker also noted that in order to stabilize prices, it is necessary to increase production volumes and reduce import dependence. Nadezhda Sharavskaya also spoke about the norms of the Law on Trade aimed at reducing the costs of agricultural producers by regulating the relationship between suppliers and retail chains, which directly affects the retail prices of food products.

Oksana Kuznetsova, Head of the Department for Cooperation with Regional Offices and Coordination of Projects for the Development of Competition of FAS Russia, noted the importance of monitoring prices for socially significant goods. She spoke about monitoring methods and preventive antimonopoly control measures, which form a key part of the system for violations prevention.

In order to track citizens' complaints about price increases or shortages of goods, the authority has organized a telephone hotline in the Regional Offices of FAS Russia. The information received is summarized and analyzed weekly.

Anti-competitive agreements in socially significant markets were also discussed during the meeting.

Alina Semenova, Deputy Head of the Anti-Cartel Department of FAS Russia, shared the methodology for proving such agreements and stressed that their detection and suppression is one of the priorities of the authority.

In order to successfully combat cartels, the Anti-Cartel AIS system was introduced into the work of the authority and its regional bodies. Oleg Dubkov, Deputy Head of the Anti-Cartel Department of FAS Russia, noted that the system automates the search for cartels at auctions due to big data analysis technologies.

The round table was also attended by representatives of the competition authorities of Armenia, Belarus, Brazil, Gambia, Egypt, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and South Africa. The participants talked about antitrust regulation measures in the relevant markets and shared their experience.

The event was held in the Training and Methodological Center of FAS Russia in Kazan, which has been assigned the status of the basic organization of the CIS member states for professional retraining and advanced training of personnel by the decision of the Council of the Heads of CIS Governments since 2013.