OREANDA-NEWS. November 27, 2013. The Head of the Legal Department of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia), Sergey Puzyrevsky, and the Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department, Andrey Tenischev, took part in “The Moscow Times” Conference – “The Most Pressing Judicial Disputes 2013”.

Other attendees included representatives of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation and the Heads of Legal Department of the largest Russian companies.

Andrey Tenischev highlighted juridical practice on cartels using examples of some precedent cases of the recent years. He pointed out that judicial practice on cartel cases in Russia is controversial, and outlined the main problems and approaches used by the Antimonopoly Service to resolve them.

“Cartel is the most dangerous violation of the antimonopoly law, which is punishable by administrative and often criminal sanctions. We can only welcome that the Courts understand this thesis as the starting point for defining the fact in proof and the manner of proving in cartel cases”, said the Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department, Andrey Tenischev.

The Head of FAS Legal Department, Sergey Puzyrevsky gave a detailed review of 2013 judicial disputes and discussed cases considered by the Supreme Arbitration Court and the Constitution Court of the Russian Federation.

Sergey Puzyrevsky outlined the prospects for developing the antimonopoly law. He talked about liberalizing administrative proceedings on violations of the antimonopoly law and informed the audience about FAS efforts on introducing the institution of class actions.

“The problem of compliance with the antimonopoly law remains pressing. The institution of class actions can become an important mechanism for enhancing efficiency of the legal remedies for the persons whose rights are infringed by violating the antimonopoly law. Under the “Road Map” for developing competition FAS is actively working on this institution and we call upon all interested persons to take part in discussing the project”, commented the Head of FAS Legal Department, Sergey Puzyrevsky.