OREANDA-NEWS. September 14, 2012. Opening the 3rd meeting of the Working Group on developing oil and oil products markets in Kazan, Deputy Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) Anatoly Golomolzin described activities of the Working Group. In particular, he informed representatives of 17 competition authorities about the results of the previous meeting of the Working Group in Vienna that was devoted to methodologies of analyzing oil and oil products markets, including specifics of defining product and geographic boundaries of wholesale and retail markets, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia. 

The meeting of the Working Group in Kazan focused on organization of monitoring of oil and oil products markets. Anatoly Golomolzin described Russia’s experience on market monitoring, including activities of vertically-integrated oil companies and independent fuel filling stations in the territory of the Russian Federation - in the constituent territories of the Russian Federation and municipalities. On a weekly and daily basis FAS monitors wholesale and retail market prices, volume of oil products sold to the companies included in vertically-integrated oil companies as well as independent companies, and volumes of oil products at oil depots.

“Special attention is paid to building indices of wholesale market prices, including prices in exchange and off-exchange segments, as well as global market prices, modified to compatible conditions of the domestic market”, said Anatoly Golomolzin.

Deputy Head of FAS stressed importance and efficiency of the automated system employed for collecting and processing information. Similar systems are used in Austria, the USA, the Ukraine and other countries.

Following the monitoring results, information regarding the level of oil products prices and price behavior becomes available to the general public on the web-site of FAS Russia. This information is forwarded to the President and the Government of the Russian Federation as part of developing and conducting state policy. The results of the monitoring also form the basis for making decisions by the antimonopoly authority considering cases of violating the antimonopoly law and considering mergers and acquisitions.

The General Director of Austria’s competition authority, Teodor Tanner, also was a speaker at the meeting of the Working Group on developing oil and oil products markets, that took place as part of Russian Competition Day in Kazan.

“Monitoring oil and oil products markets is extremely important because it enables improving conditions for consumers in our countries”, said the Head of Austria’s competition authority. “The problem of growing gasoline prices exists not only in Russia but also in Europe, and only working together, organizing such meetings, we will be able to develop a unified approach to resolving our common issue”.

Teodor Tanner also put forward an initiative to form a collective database to exchange information on oil and oil products markets: “We will be able to efficiently and promptly exchange information with regard to what is happening in our jurisdictions”. “The idea is to provide a simple and accessible tool for exchanging information necessary for competition authorities”, pointed out the Head of Austria’s competition authority.

“I am convinced that today’s meeting and the next session of the Working Group that will take place in London, will be very productive”, emphasized Teodor Tanner.

Summing up the discussion, Anatoly Golomolzin highlighted clearly positive effects of exchanging information between Russia, Austria, Portugal, Kazakhstan, the USA, the Ukraine, Latvia and other countries. Such efforts are equally essential for large and small countries, both importers and exporters of oil and oil products.

Anatoly Golomolzin pointed out significance of joint monitoring, in particular, monitoring of antimonopoly bodies exchanging information on the forms, regularity and structure of information, monitoring objects, and the main indicators. Informational-and-statistical results of monitoring, with use of methods of mathematical statistics and mathematical modeling, visualizing analysis results, are of vital importance.

Retrospective analysis is very useful, particularly, in cases on violating the antimonopoly law. Prompt and adequate coverage of current information is essential for the general public and government bodies. Forecasting on the basis of monitoring outcome is vital for developing state antimonopoly policy and control over mergers and acquisitions.

Representatives of all antimonopoly bodies, who were present at the Working Group, supported the initiative. In the nearest future the antimonopoly bodies of Russia and Austria will build-up the foundation of the collective database, and within a month the antimonopoly bodies of other countries will forward their proposals for revising and developing the monitoring system to FAS Russia and to Austria’s competition authority.

As a reference: competition authorities of Austria and Russia initiated joint Working Group on oil and oil products. For the first time the idea was put forward at the working meetings of 2009 BRIC conference in Kazan and was further discussed in Rostov-on-Don in 2011. The Working Group was formed in Moscow in January 2012; the second meeting was held in Vienna. The next meeting is planned to take place at the beginning of October in London to discuss pricing on global markets and their translation to the national markets.

It was agreed that the concluding meeting will be held in Ukraine at the end of 2012. At that meeting the Working Group plans to devise proposals for the leadership of the participating countries on the markets of oil and oil products.