FAS RUSSIA TENDS TO MAINTAIN BALANCE OF INTERESTS IN THE ANTIMONOPOLY REGULATION

This was told by Sergey Puzyrevsky, Stats Secretary - Deputy Head of FAS Russia, during the XVI session of the European-Asian Law Congress "Balance of interests in law"

Sergey Puzyrevsky noted that the priority directions for the authority are to prevent unjustified price increase, fill the domestic market with the commodities and support fair entrepreneurs. 

The possibility of limitation restricting the patent holder’s rights [1] has played a significant role in this work. For instance, this mechanism was used to provide citizens with a foreign antiviral medicine Remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19. The limitation of the patent rights of the right holder prevented an artificial increase of prices and provided medical establishments with sufficient medicine volume, while reducing budget expenditures. Such a mechanism was used in many countries – India, Brazil, Indonesia.

On the background of the intensive development of electronic commerce and the enhancing of the market power of digital monopolies, it is necessary to create effective mechanisms to protect citizens and SMEs. For this reason, the department continue working on the fifth antimonopoly package [2], which is under consideration in the State Duma. The draft laws included in it seek to suppress the abuse of dominant position by digital platform owners.

Sergey Puzyrevsky also noted the support of the authority for the development of the legalization of parallel imports [3]. This mechanism lowers the level of market power of the right holder, helps to saturate the market, reduce prices, as well as create new jobs and opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses.

At the end of his speech, Sergey Puzyrevsky noted that FAS Russia actively cooperates with civil institutions, including the cooperation at the sites of scientific conferences in the framework of optimization of legislation.

For reference:

[1] According to the Article 1239 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation

[2] The draft law No. 160280-6 "On Amendments to the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition"

[3] Order of 29 March 2022 "On goods (groups of goods) for which certain provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on the protection of exclusive rights to the results of intellectual activity expressed in such goods and means of individualization, with which such goods are marked, may not be applied"