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6. Basic trends in the development of antitrust laws in 2011-2012

Currently, the Russian antitrust law is undergoing reform.

The RF Government has developed a Competition Development Program in Russia, the tasks of which were mostly shaped in reliance on the experience of various European countries and the United States of America.

Another round of reform is expected in 2011-2012 when a 'third package' of amendments to the antitrust laws will be developed.

The major anticipated amendments are the following:

  • liability for the abuse of dominance will be differentiated based on whether the actions of a competitor restrict competition or only damage the rights of a third party;
  • the concept of concerted actions will be updated. Specifically, a provision will be included stating that actions may only be classified as concerted actions if performed by rivals;
  • the concept of coordinating economic operations will change and a provision will be included stating that only a person not operating in the market in which the coordination takes place may act as a coordinator;
  • the requirements for agreements and concerted actions restricting competition will be updated: the number of absolute prohibitions will be reduced, and the FAS of Russia will have to demonstrate the fact of the alleged restriction or possible restriction of competition in all other cases;
  • when determining whether the price of a product is monopolistically high, the FAS will have to be guided by the fair stock exchange price;
  • the range of transactions engaged in by foreign companies that require approval of an antitrust agency will be clearly determined (the criterion being the volume of the product imported to Russia).
  • the asset value thresholds that trigger the prior approval mechanism for mergers of for-profit companies and consolidation of one or several for-profit companies with another for-profit company will be materially increased - from RUR 3 to 7 billion, with the amount of proceeds increasing from RUR 6 to 10 billion. This will materially reduce the number of transactions requiring approval.