Antimonopoly lawyers from ART DE LEX took part in the international event “Competition Week in Russia”

Within the framework of Competition Week, the FAS of Russia, together with the Association of Antimonopoly Experts, held a traditional business game, during which experts and the antimonopoly authority, being on different sides of the imaginary barricades, constructed a business case highlighting a variety of interesting and controversial issues of antimonopoly regulation. 

This time, the business game focused on matters related to the efforts of local retail chains to procure goods jointly.  The situation aroused great interest among the more than 90 guests.

According to the details of the hypothetical case, Company D filed an appeal with the Collegial Body of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia against the decision of a territorial antimonopoly body.  The fictitious case file involved regional and federal retail chains on the territory of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation.  The main supplier of consumer goods was Company E.  Depending on the volume of purchased goods, Company E provided discounts to federal networks but did not give such discounts to regional networks.  Regional companies A, B, and C entered into an agreement for company E to provide them with centralized purchases, the aggregate volume of which afforded them discounts similar to those for federal retail networks.  Company D, representing federal retail chains, filed a complaint with the territorial competition authority, alleging that regional retail chains that had formed the procurement union had entered into a competition-restrictive agreement.  The competition authority did not find any signs of infringement in the actions of the regional retailers and dismissed the complaint against Company D.

After presentations by representatives of each party and lengthy discussion, the invited experts and the Collegial Body of the FAS of Russia recognized the contested decision as lawful and refused to satisfy the claims of Company D. 

Yaroslav Kulik, a partner at ART DE LEX, Dmitry Gavrilenko, an advisor and the head of the Antimonopoly Practice Group at ART DE LEX, and Dmitry Gavrilenko, a senior lawyer in ART DE LEX’s Antimonopoly Practice Group–all members of the Association of Antimonopoly Experts–were active in preparing, organizing, and defending the parties’ positions within the framework of the business game.

The audience was particularly interested in a number of issues concerning both the essence of the case under consideration and the refusal of the Collegial Body to satisfy the complaint.

The Competition Week also included seminars, round tables, conferences, and meetings of international working groups dedicated to the most pressing issues in the field of competition protection.  Its participants included representatives of government agencies, businesses, international organizations, and heads of competition authorities around the world.