09 June 2004 12:45
NEW COMPETITION LAW SAYS MONOPOLY FINES FROM ANNUAL COMPANY TURNOVER
MOSCOW. June 9 (Interfax) - Russia's new competition law says fines for monopolistic activities will be levied
on a company's annual turnover, and not in 'minimum wages,' chief of the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service
(FAS) Igor Artemev announced at a Wednesday press conference.
"We will fine violating companies, for example, 3% of annual turnover, punishment will be proportional to
revenues the company makes from monopolistic activities," Artemev said. "The punishment should fit the
crime."
The new law puts tighter qualifications on cartel agreements, he
continued. "We will not be proving the fact of a cartel agreement or
price fixing, as a rule, no such documents are being signed in these
The right to recoup losses incurred as a result of such activities can be exercised by the injured companies
themselves, and they can also seek moral damages, he said.
The issue remains to be resolved of whether the law safeguarding
competition will be a single unit, or whether it will be as before
divided between competition on financial and trade markets. A
New competition law will contain provisions that increase 100-fold the minimum limit value in deals that fall under
the FAS's purview. It also lays out a series of measures aimed at revealing company property structure in deals
involving economic concentration.
"How can we control economic concentration if we don't have trustworthy information on the companies
involved in the deals?" Artemev said.
situations. It will only be necessary to establish the fact of parallel economic behavior, that is, in the event
potential competitors simultaneously hike prices without any economic grounds," he said.
competition law concept now undergoing Economic Development and Trade Ministry coordination will soon be submitted to
the government, Artemev said.
[Interfax] |
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