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Russian competition law was ratified by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in March 1991

In the final stages of glasnost and the deteriorating tethering of the USSR, as the various member soviet republics saw the need for regulation and stabilisation of trade, the representatives to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR ratified the Law on Competition and Limitation of Monopolistic Activity in Goods Market in March 1991, which became anti-monoploy policies within Russia after secession from the USSR.^[1] The Law on the Protection of Competition of 2006 is legislation pursued to translate those policies back into law^{[citation needed]}.

^[2][3] The Law on the Protection of Competition came into effect in the Russian Federation on 26 October 2006. The stated aims for establishing of the law was to bring the Russian Federation to be in line with the general trend of competition regulation in Europe. Beyond western European competition laws against dominance, the Competition Law in Russia expressly presumes existence of dominance by defining thresholds.

• A company is in dominance if it dominates more than 50% of market share.
• A company with less than 35% of market share, unless in exceptional case, is not considered dominant.
• A collective dominance exists when up to three companies hold a combined market share exceeding 50%.
• A collective dominance exists when up to five companies hold a combined market share exceeding 75%.
• A safe harbour margin of up to 20% market share per company for agreements between companies of different segments of a supply chain.

The law also places restrictions on aids from, and public procurement policies of, federal, provincial or municipal governments that otherwise would encourage anti-competition.

The law is enforced by the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS). The law also gives the FAS authority over approval of company mergers stipulating various combinations of thresholds of assets of merging companies, an excess of which would require prior approval from the FAS. The scope of regulation of the FAS is focused on the commodity market and financial services with mandates over operations and transactions not just within the Russian Federation but also those taking place outside the boundaries of Russia which would have anti-competitive effects on the Russian market place.

^[4] As with the trend in the United States and the European Union, the FAS has also taken Microsoft to task for anti-competitive behaviour, by bringing Microsoft to court on 4 June 2009.

In addition to a distinct competition law, the Code of Administrative Offences has also been amended to increase liability of anti-competitive practices. Punitive measures against anti-competitive practices are meted out in terms of percentages of revenues of a company.

Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS)

Flag of FAS

The Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, FAS (Russian: Федеральная антимонопольная служба России, ФАС России) is the federal-level executive governmental organ which controls the execution of the competition laws and related areas. It was established by the Decree of President of Russia # 314 by March 9, 2004. It is headed by Igor Artemyev.^[5]

See also

• Constitution of Russia
• Copyright in Russia
• Law of the Russian Federation
• Russian legal history

References

1. ^ Legislating competition in the Russian Federation: a new challenge for antitrust policy . Antitrust Bulletin. (Report).
2. ^ Anti-monopoly regulation . Conseco Press. (Report).
3. ^ Brian L. Zimbler and Kirill Okorochenkov (2006) Russia's New Anti-Monopoly Law: A Brief Review . Russia/Eurasia Executive Guide. (Report).
4. ^ (2009) Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service is at law with Microsoft . PanARMENIAN. (Report).
5. ^ Federal Antimonopoly Service website