2On 6 March 2021, the traditional Antitrust Forum of the Association of Corporate Lawyers (ACLJ) with the support of the Federal Antimonopoly Service and the Eurasian Economic Commission ‘Healthy Economy = Healthy Competition’ was held. Antitrust Advisory law firm supported the Forum and its partners took an active part in its work.
Antitrust Advisory Evgeny Khokhlov spoke at the session ‘Shock changes in the market: how to take into account, on the one hand, the interests of business and, on the other hand, the requirements of antimonopoly legislation’. Evgeny shared with the Forum participants practical recommendations and risk mitigation tactics. In his opinion, any interaction with the antimonopoly authority, let alone an antimonopoly investigation, is associated with a whole range of costs that companies would like to avoid. When assessing risks, companies take into account not only possible fines, but also FAS orders, which can often be even more tangible for business. Among the effective risk mitigation tactics Evgeny mentioned the preparation of economic justification for price increases, assessment of demand dynamics, organisation of temporary price promotions, and development of compliance policies. Eugene emphasised that businesses should not forget about interaction with consumers: negotiate with them before the expected increase in demand, create stocks of products before periods of high demand, notify consumers of price increases in advance, raise prices in stages rather than at once. Eugene separately noted that the FAS is ready to listen to reasonable justifications fr om companies.
Partner, Antitrust Advisory Alexander Egorushkin moderated the session ‘Topical Issues of Cross-Border Trade’ and delivered a report on ‘Different Quality of Goods in Russia and in Foreign Markets (Double Standards Problem)’. Alexander touched upon one of the most discussed in the media and antitrust circles problems related to possible differences between consumer products manufactured for Russian and foreign markets, which is considered by FAS Russia from the point of view of unfair competition in the form of misleading consumers. Alexander proposed to make the procedure for conducting double standard investigations more open for companies whose products are analysed, to give such companies the opportunity to present their position on the selection of products for investigation even before their products are examined. Alexander recommended that the focus should be on the positioning of the product by the manufacturer, as this is what creates a certain impression among consumers and, accordingly, can be the main factor in misleading consumers. The issue of safety should remain outside the scope of ‘double standards’ cases, because if a product meets the safety requirements applicable in Russia, it is a priori safe, and consumers cannot be misled about this parameter. Currently, the antimonopoly authority proposes to put information on the packaging of goods that the goods are produced for the EAEU or Russia. However, according to Alexander, it is impossible to make a single template, a single wording for all situations wh ere the quality of Russian products may differ from products circulating on foreign markets.
Deputy Head of the FAS of Russia Sergey Puzyrevsky and Head of the Legal Department of the FAS of Russia Artem Molchanov spoke on active government policy aimed at developing competition. Member of the EEC Collegium on Competition and Antimonopoly Regulation Arman Shakkaliev spoke about the formation of a favourable competitive environment in the Eurasian Economic Union. Nelli Galimkhanova, Head of the Industry Control Department of FAS Russia, outlined the line between antimonopoly monitoring and investigations, Timofey Nizhegorodtsev, Deputy Head of the FAS of Russia, spoke on price regulation, while the report Andrey Kashevarov, Deputy Head of the FAS of Russia, was devoted to parallel imports.
More information on the UCSD Forum can be found at link.
