OREANDA-NEWS. October 12, 2010. Yaroslavl hosted a workshop of representatives of the Central Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) and offices of FAS Russia in 17 regions of the Central Federal District, the Vologda region and the Republic of Buryatia, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.     

Participants emphasized importance of cooperation between all authorities in order to develop competition in the Russian Federation. “Society and the state expect the antimonopoly bodies anticipate events as it will help prevent many negative social phenomena”, said the Chairman of Yaroslavl Regional Duma [Legislature], Viktor Rogotsky.

The central issue at the workshop was practice of combating abuse of market dominance, anticompetitive agreements and concerted actions in various regions. In particular, attendees raised the issues of lack of uniform judicial approaches regarding similar claims, and lack of funds for expert examinations required to prove violations. The workshop also discussed the problems of defining goods and geographical boundaries of specific markets.

Participants showed a vivid interest towards the presentation of Deputy Head of the FAS Russia’s Cartel Department Pavel Samolysov about FAS Russia’s scope of reference in sudden raids with use of state-of-the-art technology. This method is especially effective for proving collusions between companies.

The second day of the workshop was devoted to topical issues, legal aspects and judicial practice of antimonopoly enforcement over agents of the housing & utilities market (management of apartment blocks, tariffs).

“Citizens should be more active and should not be afraid to protect their rights and change managing companies, for example, specify the right to unilaterally terminate the agreement in their contract with a managing company”, concluded workshop participants.