Federal Antimonopoly Service director Igor Artemyev wants to take a forceful approach to the economy.
Photo: Mikhail Solovyanov
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FAS Wants Broader Application of Rules
The prosecutor general and tax legislation may soon no longer be the state’s main instruments of pressure on business, if the Federal Antimonopoly Service has its way. Amendments it has drafted at the instructions of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin impose a fine of up to 15 percent of turnover on practically any company that concludes a contract disadvantageous to the other party to it. This package of amendments, the second ordered from the service by the prime minister, was discussed on August 11 by an interagency working group. Its main innovation is a ban on abuse of influence not only by monopolists, but by companies that do not have a dominant position in their markets.
Specific prohibitions listed in the document include contract conditions “disadvantageous to the counteragent,” “economically or technically unreasonable refusal” to conclude a contract, “creation of discriminatory conditions” and “conditioning the acquisition of goods on the obligatory acquisition of other goods.”
Retailers were the main focus of the FAS when it prepared this package of amendments. They were to be covered by the draft law “On Trade,” but Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Khristenko insisted that they be excluded from the strict requirements. FAS head Igor Artemyev was, nonetheless, able to convince the prime minister of the need for stricter control. The new package leaves the concept of “abuse of influence” open to the broad interpretation of the service, based on the “sensibly understandable interests” of the parties to the contract. One of the participants in the August 11 commented that “The norm on abuse of influence is obviously not passable in its current edition, but it is clear what direction it has to go in.”
Experts who are familiar with the draft, and who asked not to be named, commented that, even if the government does not use the norm as a weapon against inconvenient businesses, it will lead to higher retail food prices, since that is to the advantage of the supplier.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 14, 2008
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