OREANDA-NEWS. October 11, 2010. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) has launched a special “Anti-Cartel” web-site www.anticartel.ru to combat cartels, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

The web-site is an informational portal of FAS Russia that has analytical reports, news of the Antimonopoly Service, articles published in mass media and cases from Russian and foreign anti-cartel practice.

“Through the site one can file an anonymous report about cartels”, points out Alexander Kinev, the Head of the FAS Russia’s Cartel Department. “Also the web-site has a special forum where registered users can discuss news, antimonopoly law and examples of cartel collusions. We hope that launching the web-site will increase the flow of reports from citizens about existing collusions and increase the overall awareness of citizens about the harm inflicted by cartels and liability for participation in cartels”.

Cartels are competition-restricting agreements among competitors in a written or oral.

The three main types of cartel collusions include:

1. Price collusions;


2. Collusions on geographical or other types of market division;

3. Bid-rigging collusions.

Price collusions are any kind of agreements among competitors, which fixe a particular level of prices, mark-ups, etc. The signs of a cartel include identical or practically identical prices of competitors, or simultaneous price changes, or price changes for the same value.

“Cartels restrict competition and freeze national economic development”, is convinced Deputy Head of FAS Russia Andrey Tsarikovskiy. “Danger to society is that cartels restrict competition by clandestine agreements between competitors aimed at infringing consumer interests and gaining abnormal profit. The purpose of the “Anti-cartel” web-site is to explain to citizens and economic entities negative consequences of collusions, liability for participation in illegal agreements and leniency possibility for participation in cartels”.

Reference:

In 2008 FAS Russia discovered 226 prohibited cartel agreements and in 2009 – more than 480.

In 2009 FAS Russia considered over 500 cases on antimonopoly agreements between economic entities and around 450 cases for collusions between economic entities and the authorities. Such violations were discovered in practically all sectors of the economy. Among priority areas for combating cartels, FAS Russia identified the following sectors: food products, medicines, other essential goods, housing and communal services, transport and communications.