Meeting with the Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, Mr. I.Yu. Artemyev

A meeting with the Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, Igor Yuryevich ARTEMYEV, took place at the Marriott Aurora Hotel on 28 October 2005. The Bar Association of the Moscow Region “Law firm “YUST” was represented at this meeting by one of its partners, Artur Alexandrovich ROCHLIN. The meeting was organized by the American Chamber of Commerce, of which the law firm “YUST” is a member.

In his address, the Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia spoke of the pending changes to acting antimonopoly legislation and matters of state policy in the sphere of antimonopoly regulation, aimed at fortifying antimonopoly control and increasing responsibility for violations of the said legislation. Reference was thus made to the draft Federal Law “On the protection of competition”, the draft Federal Law “On the introduction of changes to the Code of the Russian Federation on administrative violations of the law” and the new edition of Article 178 of the Penal Code of the RF.

In the course of the meeting, representatives of business circles and Igor Yuryevich Artemyev discussed questions concerning legal practices of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, the solution of which comes within the competence of antimonopoly bodies. Inter alia, Artur Alexandrovich Rochlin, a partner and representative of the law firm “YUST”, raised the problem of means for avoiding subjective assessments in the application of antimonopoly legislation, such as the application of the category “comparable goods market”, “justifiable expenses” and “fair price.”

The meeting gives reason to expect further constructive dialogue between the state authorities and the Russian business community in improving antimonopoly legislation while observing the balance of the interests of all parties involved in such legal relationships.