During the meeting of the Government of the Russian Federation on June 20, 2024, Maxim Shaskolsky highlighted the key achievements of the service over the past year and outlined the priority areas for the future period.
The head of the agency noted that in the current economic conditions it is important to ensure stability and control over pricing on socially important commodity markets. In 2023-2024, the service initiated 21 cases on violation of antimonopoly legislation in the markets of food products - sugar, chicken meat, chicken eggs. It also issued 14 warnings and 13 cautions in connection with public statements on price increases for certain goods.
The work with major federal retail chains continues - retailers comply with agreements to reduce the average level of markups on first-price goods. During the observation period from August 2021, markups decreased from 22% to 5-7%.
The issue of ensuring the availability of air transportation remains under special control. A case of violation of antimonopoly legislation has already been initiated against S7. Letters have been sent to the largest airlines on the need to clarify the pricing procedure and ensure the affordability of air tickets on domestic routes. The Service notes that the principles of dynamic pricing of airlines should be transparent and focused on ensuring the affordability of air travel for citizens.
On the instructions of the Government of the Russian Federation, the FAS of Russia analyzes the economic feasibility of the components of the cost of petroleum products: transportation, storage and sales. Special attention is paid to providing agricultural producers with fuel at affordable prices. In case of unjustified price increases, the agency takes antimonopoly response measures - 26 antimonopoly cases were initiated as a result of the inspections.
A large number of complaints are received about the actions of marketplaces. In 2023, the "fifth antimonopoly package" came into force, which allowed the FAS of Russia to take measures to respond to digital marketplaces. The largest companies in this area have already been issued warnings to stop imposing unfavorable terms, which are in a high stage of enforcement.
The work on control over the economic feasibility of tariffs is carried out on an ongoing basis. In 2023, the Service conducted 14 large-scale inspections that affected 93 regulated organizations. The amount of funds excluded from tariffs in 2023 and planned to be excluded in the current year amounted to 23 billion rubles. To increase the efficiency of this work, FAS of Russia involved employees of territorial bodies in conducting inspections.
In 2023, violations of antimonopoly legislation on tenders in the form of cartels and collusion with the customer were detected in 72 regions of the country. The identified agreements covered 2,911 procurements with an aggregate initial (maximum) contract price of RUB 174 billion, and 39 criminal cases were initiated. The markets of road construction, construction, pharmaceuticals, housing and utilities, and social catering remain the leaders in terms of the number of identified violations. Also, in 2023, fines worth 2 billion 100 million rubles were paid for cartel cases already considered. To digitalize the process of detection and suppression of cartels in tenders, FAS of Russia is working on the creation of the state screening program AIS Anti-cartel.
Maxim Shaskolsky concluded his report by noting the effect of the National Plan for the Development of Competition in the Russian Federation. Combining pro-competitive measures in various sectors of the economy within one key document allows synchronizing the efforts of executive authorities of all levels and improving the quality and efficiency of achieving the planned results.
Source: FAS
