OREANDA-NEWS. October 14, 2014. The annual cartel workshop of the International Competition Network (ICN) took place in Taipei (Taiwan). Russia was represented by Deputy Head of FAS Legal Department, Denis Gavrilov, and Deputy Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department, Mukhamed Khamukov. This year for the first time FAS is a co-chair of ICN Cartel Group on enforcement (Sub-Group 2).

Deputy Head of FAS Legal Department, Denis Gavrilov, moderated a plenary session on “Preventing Cartels in Public Procurement” as well as a Round Table on “Analytical Mechanisms of Exposing Big-Rigging Cartels and Other Types of Cartels”, where he made reports “Electronic Trading in Public Procurement: Suppressing Cartels” and “Mechanisms and Means of Exposing Cartels”. He discussed functioning of electronic trading system and its advantages, the practice of suppressing bid-rigging at electronic trading by the Antimonopoly Service using indirect evidence, including analysis of price bids trends (bidders’ behavior during particular competitive bidding), particularly exposing a so-called “ram” scheme, mathematical analysis based on the relativity theory and the game theory.

At the plenary session “Advantages of Cooperation between Antimonopoly Bodies in Investigating International Cartels” Deputy Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department, Mukhamed Khamukov made a report on “Investigating International Cartels: New Levels of Cooperation”. He outlined the areas of cooperation in bilateral relations with foreign antimonopoly bodies as well as competition authorities of the member-states of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Eurasian Economic Commission.

Mukhamed Khamukov also presented FAS proposals on devising an international convention for combating cartels, the purpose of which is to determine the common rules of cooperation between competition authorities of various countries in investigating international cartels.

Members of the delegation also took an active part in other Round Tables under the frame of the Working Group and shared FAS experience for investigating and suppressing cartels, particularly, on dawn raids, leniency programmes and using indirect evidence.

“The workshop in Taiwan is a landmark for FAS since for the first time, together with the competition authorities of Australia and Brazil, Russian antimonopoly body took part in the event as a co-chair. FAS together with several competition authorities is drafting the Guidelines for preventing and exposing bid-rigging cartels to be used by the antimonopoly bodies – members of the International Competition Network. The Guidelines will be presented in 2015”, commented Deputy Head of FAS, Alexander Kinev.

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Since 2002 FAS has been an active member of ICN – the only international organization uniting government agencies of developed and developing countries and is involved only in the issues of antimonopoly policy and enforcement of competition law, developing efficient international cooperation in this field. The key ICN events are its Annual Conferences. The 13th Conference was in April 2014 in Marrakesh (Morocco). At the Conference, FAS extended its membership in the Steering ICN Committee and co-chairmanship of ICN Regulations Group, and was elected a co-chair of ICN Cartel Group.