Antitrust Proceedings and Disputes
We advise companies at all stages of antitrust investigations and disputes, including assisting with information requests from antitrust authorities, ‘dawn raids’ and scheduled audits and reviews by the FAS of Russia. We also represent clients in proceedings before the FAS of Russia and in court.
Our experience includes complex abuse of dominance cases, cartel cases and investigations of other anticompetitive agreements, including in relation to tenders. We also represent clients in cases involving market coordination (including with respect to pricing), unfair competition and trade law violations.
Our recent experience in this area includes advising:
- Procter & Gamble before the FAS in the matter related to the alleged unfair competition because of the alleged differences in consumer characteristics of P&G’s products in the EU and in Russia (dual quality)
- the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers in antitrust investigation initiated by the FAS in relation to the online hotel booking platform Booking.com violating competition law as it had imposed unfavourable contractual terms on Russian hotels that required them to provide it with certain information and comply with parity of prices, room availability and conditions in all sales and distribution channels
- National Financial Market Council (the largest association of financial institutions in Russia) in a claim against major Russian mobile operators (so called “Big 4” including MTS, VympelCom, Megafon and Tele2) on abuse of collective dominance in the forms of excessive pricing and discrimination in the market for mass text messaging
- Ottobock, the global market leader in medical mobility solutions, in the investigation initiated by the FAS accusing producers and distributors of orthoses in participation in a retail price fixing cartel
- Yandex in connection with an investigation into abuse of dominance by Google in Russia and other jurisdictions (the ‘Google Android’ case)
A unique and inimitable company with deep knowledge of antimonopoly law and law enforcement, and an individual approach to the client.
Legal 500 EMEA 2021