OREANDA-NEWS. March 17, 2014. FAS had an extended Collegium to celebrate 10-year anniversary of establishing the Federal Antimonopoly Service.

Representatives of the authorities and non-government organizations joined the Collegium to congratulate the Head of FAS Igor Artemiev and the heads of 83 regional FAS offices.

For instance, First Deputy Prime-Minister, Igor Shuvalov, pointed out that FAS is an important institution that is as good as its foreign counterparts. It is proved by compliance of the Russian antimonopoly policy to the standards of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). However, as First Deputy Prime-Minister emphasized, major efforts still have to be undertaken:

this year FAS primary objective is advancing along the “Road Map”.

According to First Deputy of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Alexander Buksman, FAS is also a guarantee for successful development of markets and entrepreneurship. Thousands of violations committed by representatives of the authorities and businessmen have been exposed during the years of working together with the General Prosecutor’s Office. Many criminal cases were opened thanks to the joint efforts.

“However, we do not always agree with FAS decisions”, emphasized Boris Titov, the Commissioner for the President of the Russian Federation for protecting the rights of businessmen.

FAS also tries to react to any given changes as promptly as it is necessary. According to Deputy Minister of Communications of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Evraev, FAS is the driving force of numerous reforms. For instance, the Federal Antimonopoly Service and the Ministry of Communications together did a big job that led, in particular, to abolishing “mobile slavery”.

Igor Shuvalov and the Head of Secretariat of the Interstate Council on Antimonopoly Policy, Azam Usmanov, stated that apart from restoring economic order in Russia, FAS also provides professional training and retraining of personnel not only from Russia but also from the CIS to a high standard.

The Head of Moscow OFAS Russia, Rachik Petrosyan justly noted that “competitive ability of the entire system starts with competitive ability within the system”.