Federal Anti-Monopoly Service Issues Annual Report

The Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) has issued its annual report "On the Current State of Competition in the Russian Federation" for 2009. The law requires the FAS to submit such current and comprehensive analytical reports on the state of competition in the country to the government every year. The report is available at http://fas.gov.ru/about/list-of-reports/list-of-reports_30001.html.

The report covers topics such as the goals of Russian competition law, analysis of competition conditions nationwide and in specific regions and industries, supervision of foreign investments, international indicators and indexes on Russian antitrust law, law enforcement practice, and suggestions for improvement in competition law and its implementation.

The report notes that the key event in the development of competition in Russia in 2009 was the emergence of the regional dimension in antitrust policy as a result of the government’s decisions requiring regional authorities to adopt programs to adjust conditions for competition in the various subjects of the Russian Federation.

The recent economic crisis, according to the report, has greatly affected current antitrust policy. The report cautions that governmental support of the biggest companies, while necessary during the crisis, should not lead to elimination of competition in the relevant markets.

The report shows an increase in the number of violations of competition law, more than half of which were committed by public authorities.

The FAS’s performance was ranked quite high by the "Global Competition Review," an independent international publication. Out of more than a hundred public competition agencies around the world, only 38 best were included in the Review’s international ranking. Russia’s FAS was ranked in the range of 19th to 26th place, together with the agencies of such countries as Austria, Brazil, Norway, and Switzerland.

According to the FAS, the Russian business community ranks a proper competition environment as the second most important goal of government economic regulation after creating a legal framework for business.