Researchers and practitioners discussed bilateral monopolies at Moscow State University

On 25 January 2018, the Department of Competition and Industrial Policy in the Faculty of Economics at Moscow State University held a research seminar devoted to the application of competition policy in the case of bilateral monopolies. Andrey Shastitko, the deputy dean of the Faculty of Economics, moderated the seminar. Natalia Pavlova, an associate professor in the Faculty of Economics at Moscow State University, and Nellie Galimkhanova, the head of the Department of Industrial Control of FAS Russia, gave the keynote speeches.
Natalia Pavlova substantiated the feasibility of third-party intervention in the relationship between the participants of bilateral monopolies in Russia because of the suboptimal ownership
structure the country inherited from the time of privatization and the peculiarities of the “contractual culture” of the parties. These problems and the presence of potentially serious negative effects for entire industries in the event of a failure to coordinate a particular transaction, dictate the choice of special coordination mechanisms that may involve the intervention of an antimonopoly authority. Based on the experiences of specific decisions, Nelly Galimkhanova supported the idea that the FAS should intervene in critical situations. However, the formal tools of the FAS for analyzing such markets are not yet suited to the task.
Kirill Dozmarov, head of the ART DE LEX Antimonopoly Practice, was pleased that the FAS of Russia now considers bilateral monopolies as a special situation and suggested that the regulator could take on the functions of a compulsory mediator in complex cases. During the subsequent discussion, the participants considered whether this mediator should be the FAS of Russia, and opinions on this matter were divided. On the one hand, the antimonopoly authority has the necessary enforcement mechanisms, while on the other hand, industry-specific regulators or associations could cope with various industry specifics.
Alexander Kudrin, a senior researcher at Lomonosov Moscow State University and head of the Department for Strategic Research in the Energy Sector at the Analytical Center, under the Government of the Russian Federation, also attended the seminar.