OREANDA-NEWS. July 23, 2013. No. 2559-6 GD Decree of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation declared an amnesty for economic crimes, including crimes specified in Parts 1 and 2 Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The Decree shall be applicable for six months to convicted persons and to the persons under preliminary investigation and inquiry.

The Decree comes into force on the date of its publication (4th July 2013) and is applicable to actions exercised before the amnesty act was published.

“The amnesty directly affects anti-cartel efforts of FAS. Most likely all criminal cases initiated on the basis of materials compiled by the antimonopoly bodies under Parts 1 and 2 Article 178 of the Criminal Code will be terminated”, stated Deputy Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) Alexander Kinev. “The issue is under the jurisdiction of the internal affairs bodies”.

“If a violation of the antimonopoly law, subject to criminal liability under Article 178 of the Criminal Code, was long-lasting and took place, in particular, after 4th July, the violators can be and must be held administratively liable. To this effect, the antimonopoly body must specially indicate these circumstances in its decision”, added the Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department Andrey Tenischev. “The amnesty does not apply to the persons that in total also committed other violations. For instance, it can be commercial bribery committed for bid-rigging purposes”.

All regional Offices of FAS Russia were given the necessary explanations with regard to these issues.