The Federal Antimonopoly Service is one of the bodies of the executive branch of government at the federal level, the activities of which are directly controlled by the Government of Russia. In this article, we will consider in detail what the antitrust service does, its goals and main areas of activity.
General information
Not all Russian citizens understand what the antimonopoly service does and what issues it knows. The information presented in the article will clarify this issue. The functions and powers of the Federal Antimonopoly Service are determined by Government Decisions of April 7, 2004 No. 189 and July 30, 2004 of No. 331, as well as the Law on Protection of Competition and other documents.
The main mission of the FAS is the effective protection of competition and entrepreneurship for the development of the Russian economy. The antimonopoly authority in its activities pursues the following objectives:
- Creation of positive conditions for the development of competition.
- Ensuring equal access to the market for medium and small businesses.
- Achieving a high level of efficiency of budget expenditures in public procurement.
- Ensuring equal access to the products of natural monopolies.
- Elimination of the restrictive influence of public authorities on the functioning of markets.
The structure of the antimonopoly service of Russia
From the moment of its foundation and to the present, the named department is headed by Igor Yuryevich Artemyev. The structure of the antimonopoly service includes the head and eleven of his deputies, including the state secretary, assistant heads, as well as units in the main areas of activity - directorates headed by heads. Departments function inside the departments.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service includes the central apparatus and territorial administrations. The central office is located in Moscow at ul. Sadovaya-Kudrinskaya 11.
In the regions of the Russian Federation, the antimonopoly regulation of the FAS is carried out through the territorial bodies, which currently number 82. They exercise the same powers as the central apparatus, with the exception of the adoption of regulatory acts. It should also be noted that the control of the defense order is carried out only by six territorial departments of the FAS Russia.
Protection of competition and free enterprise
The main activity of the antimonopoly body is monitoring compliance with the Federal Laws “On Protection of Competition” and “On Natural Monopolies”.
We list what the Federal Antimonopoly Service does in the framework of this legislation:
- Carries out consideration of cases of violation of such legislation.
- It gives organizations (including entities of natural monopolies) and bodies of power binding orders to stop violations of controlled legislation or to eliminate the consequences of such violations.
- It gives warnings about the completion of actions that violate antitrust laws, as well as warnings about the inadmissibility of such actions.
- Holds administrative liability for violation of the law.
- Establishes the dominant position of the organization in the market.
- Carries out inspection of the activities of enterprises engaged in trade in the markets of certain goods.
- Carries out other powers provided by the specified federal laws.
Advertising law enforcement
The development of the market and fair competition in our country is also facilitated by control over compliance with regulatory acts on advertising, which is what the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia does.
Its functions in this area are detailed in Federal Law No. 38 “On Advertising”. They consist mainly in the prevention and suppression of inappropriate advertising, as well as one that is able to mislead citizens or harm their health.
For violation of the legislation on advertising, the FAS is entitled to bring administrative entities to administrative responsibility.
Public procurement control
Section 99 of the law on the contract system establishes that the FAS Russia is a public authority authorized to exercise supervision in the field of procurement.
Carrying out control measures in relation to contract services, customers, procurement commissions and other participants in procurement procedures is what the antimonopoly service does in this area. Monitoring the placement of orders for goods, works and services for municipal and state needs is carried out through unscheduled and scheduled inspections, the procedure for which is approved by the relevant orders of the FAS Russia.
Defense Order Control
Since 2015, the antimonopoly authority has been delegated the authority to exercise control in the field of state defense orders. Monitoring pricing of military products, maintaining a register of sole suppliers of weapons and military equipment, initiating and considering cases of violation of the law in the field of defense orders - this is not all that the antimonopoly service in this area does.
In addition to the above duties, the FAS is preparing normative legal acts. These documents include, among others, draft federal laws, draft decrees and orders of the Government of Russia, as well as orders of the FAS Russia, regulating narrower issues in this area.
Control over foreign investment
In addition to the above, the FAS carries out activities to monitor transactions, the conclusion of which may entail the establishment of control by other countries and international organizations over Russian enterprises of strategic importance for the country's defense.
Within the framework of this monitoring, the Federal Antimonopoly Service carries out preliminary approval of various transactions of foreign investors with strategic organizations, for example, transactions on the acquisition of a certain share of the shares of such an enterprise.
Tariff Regulation
In the summer of 2015, the FAS took over the functions of the abolished FTS (Federal Tariff Service), namely, setting tariffs and monitoring their use in various sectors of the economy. Tariff regulation covers the electric power industry, gas industry, railway transport and other areas, the list of which is established by the relevant regulatory legal act. First of all, it is carried out in the sphere of functioning of natural monopolies.
The FAS competence also includes the consideration of disagreements and pre-trial disputes between the authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, enterprises and consumers in the field of tariff regulation by the state. By the way, most of the applications and complaints received by the anti-monopoly service are in the areas of heat and water supply.
Currently, one of the most important areas of activity of the described body in relation to tariff regulation is to ensure uniformity of the economic space by reducing differentiation among prices in one industry. In addition, the FAS plans to increase the level of information transparency of the tariff setting process and introduce the principle of competitiveness in this process .
Other powers
When answering the question of what the antimonopoly service does, it is impossible not to mention that this department is also authorized to consider appeals and applications of citizens and organizations on issues that fall within the scope of this organization.
It has the right to carry out verification of compliance with the antimonopoly and other legislation controlled by the department by various organizations, including authorities at various levels.
In addition, the antimonopoly service annually prepares a report on the state of competition in the country, and also engages in normative work in the established areas of service, and prepares clarifications on the application of legislation.
FAS is actively developing international cooperation on competition law enforcement.
As we see, the agency has a wide range of powers and functions, which makes the antitrust service a powerful and effective entity for ensuring the economic security of the Russian Federation in the modern world.