OREANDA-NEWS. September 17, 2014. Deputy Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia), Alexander Kinev, had a working visit to Veliky Novgorod where he took part in a meeting on “Inter-branch Cooperation between Regional Authorities in Investigating Crimes under Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation”, organized by the Chief Federal Inspector in the Novgorod region, Alexei Karmanov.

Representatives of Novgorod Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Novgorod Regional Investigation Directorate of the Investigation Committee of the Russian Federation, Offices of the Federal Security Service in the Novgorod Region, the Department of the Ministry of Interior in the Novgorod Region, the Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service in the Novgorod Region (Novgorod OFAS Russia).

The meeting focused on summing up the results of cooperation between officers of the antimonopoly authority and law enforcement bodies in the Novgorod region, as a result of which bid-rigging collusion in construction of a bridge across Perekhoda river was exposed, and guilty verdicts were passed for the first time against officials under Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Alexander Kinev thanked participants for their successful work and, at the instruction by the Head of FAS Igor Artemiev, presented responsible executives and officers of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Investigation Directorate, that took part in case investigation, with certificates of appreciation and acknowledgment.

“For a long time the norm on criminal liability for cartels was “dormant” and had only protective functions. The first sentence under Article 178 of the Criminal Code for establishing a cartel showed that Article 178 can and must work. The goal of FAS and the law enforcement bodies is to organize joint efforts in such a way that criminal liability for cartels becomes inevitable”, emphasized Alexander Kinev.