OREANDA-NEWS. May 16, 2011. Budapest Regional Competition Centre OECD – Hungary organised a workshop “Disguising Cartels as Legitimate Business Practices” (Budapest, Hungary), reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

FAS Russia was represented by Deputy Head of FAS Cartel Department, Ms. Yana Bagrova.

The programme included various issues related to interaction of competitors on the market, in particular: determining cases of legitimate and unlawful cooperation between competitors, and cases of exposing cartel and such violations of the antimonopoly law as competitors entering into supply agreements, fixing standards (rules) for activities, in which market participants are involved and their joint ventures.

“At the workshop, we discussed with our European colleagues the scope of reference of competition authorities investigating cartels. For instance, we found out that European competition authorities enjoy broader powers in terms of cartel investigation. Unlike Russian antimonopoly body, not only they can copy documents but also seize them. Also in Europe it is possible to obtain an order to investigate legal as well as physical persons, which considerably facilitates collecting cartel evidence. The “third antimonopoly package” of amendments provides for provisions aimed at clarification of the procedure of unscheduled inspections. It will bring Russian practice significantly closer to the European standards”, said Ms. Bagrova.