Press-release of 30.06.2010

On 29th June 2010, the US Embassy in Moscow hosted a workshop on competition policy for American law firms and representatives of American companies operating in Russia. The Head of FAS Russia Igor Artemyev made a presentation at the workshop.

The workshop was opened by the US ambassador in Moscow, Mr. John Beyrle, who pointed out in the welcoming address that FAS Russia and the US antimonopoly bodies (the Federal Trade Commission and the Ministry of Justice) have established good, longstanding relationship. Mr. Beyrle emphasized importance of the Memorandum of Understanding on antimonopoly cooperation between FAS Russia, of the one part, and the Federal Trade Commission and the Ministry of Justice, on the other part, signed in November 2009. In fulfillment of the Memorandum, on 8-9 July 2010 FAS Russia organizes a workshop on antimonopoly enforcement for Russian and American judges, and representatives of government agencies and commercial organizations.

After the welcoming address of Mr. Beyrle, the Head of FAS Russia Igor Artemyev made a presentation, highlighting major areas of the FAS Russia's work. At the workshop special attention was given to development of Russian-American relations in the field of antimonopoly policy; in particular, Mr Artemyev emphasized that experience of American colleagues in competition policy is invaluable for FAS Russia.

Another speaker at the workshop was Mikhail Evrayev, the Head of the FAS Russia's Department for State Procurement Control. He talked about the state procurement reforms in Russia and outlined several clear advantages of transition to electronic auctions over traditional open auctions.

The central part of the workshop was a discussion, when FAS Russia's representatives - Deputy Head of FAS Russia Andrey Tsyganov, Head of the Legal Department Sergey Pouzyrevsky and Head of Cartel Department Alexander Kinyov, and other - answered various questions asked by the audience.

At the end of the workshop Igor Artemyev proposed to organize training for the American colleagues on participating in electronic auctions on state and municipal procurement at one of the pilot electronic sites in Moscow in the Republic of Tatarstan. The American side supported the initiative.

Summing up the event, Lesay Davydova, the Head of the FAS Russia's Department for International Economic Cooperation, stated: "To us it's obvious how important it is to expand mutually beneficial engagement with American colleagues in order to improve competition enforcement, exchange experiences and get more objective assessment of each other's activities. The Russian antimonopoly authority has been working with the USA Federal Trade Commission and the US Department of Justice for nearly twenty years with increasing intensity. The evidence of it is signing the Memorandum of Understanding on antimonopoly cooperation between FAS Russia and the US antimonopoly bodies in Washington, D.C. in November 2009, which further facilitates cooperation between Russian and American competition authorities for the sake of harmonizing the principles of competition policy and exchanging experience on the most pressing issues of competition development.

Russian-American cooperation in the field of competition policy is determined by the long-term goals. Active cooperation aimed to prevent cross-border antimonopoly violations is one of such goals".