FBK Legal about Market Power and Competition

At the conference arranged by Pravo.ru to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the FAS of Russia under the title “Market Power, Competition and Antitrust Regulation in Russia” Alexander Ermolenko has moderated one of the sessions, ?Antitrust Litigation and the Right to Defence?, that provoked a lively discussion among representatives of the antimonopoly service, big business, universities and lawyers over the ways to improve anti-cartel legislation and law enforcement.

FBK Legal’s Head of Antitrust Practice Sergey Ermolenko mentioned that the FAS today is the most advanced administrative body in Russia as it thoroughly examines cases. However, the proceedings are often formal and a full list of claims and evidence is not available to the defendant. ?This makes the proceedings fictitious to some extent - profound procedural ideas that should secure the right to defence are substituted by formalities, which is harmful not only to the defendant but also to the procedural efficiency,? he said.

In addition, in his speech at the session titled ?Public Procurements in Russia: Dialogue with the Regulator?, Sergey Ermolenko said that the governmentalization of certain industries lead to actual oligopolies with the dominant position of public procurement authorities. ?On the one hand, we defend competition and degovernmentalize unitary enterprises, on the other hand, we stimulate ?national champions,? concluded Sergey Ermolenko.