Target state antimonopoly policy -- demonopolization of the economy, the development of competition and increasing the efficiency of production on the basis of market regulation of economic processes.

The strategic objectives of the competition policy in Russia at the present stage were formulated in 2008 by the President Russian Federation V. V. Putin:

“In solving the problem of radically increasing the efficiency of our economy, we must create incentives and conditions for advancing a number of areas...

development of new sectors of global competitiveness, primarily in high-tech industries;

development of market institutions and a competitive environment that will motivate enterprises to reduce costs, update products and respond flexibly to consumer needs” V. V. Putin, President of Russian Federation. Speech at the expanded meeting of the State Council "On the development strategy of Russia until 2020", February 8. 2008 // Ros. gas.-- 2008.-- February 10..

To achieve these goals, each institution of state power must create conditions for the organic development of a competitive environment, the effective functioning of business, and the antimonopoly body, within its competence, must solve the problems of control and supervision over compliance with competition law, control over economic concentration, antimonopoly regulation in the natural monopoly, control in the field of placing state orders, assessment of control over the development of competition in strategic industries, etc.

Monopolistic activity is the opposite of competition, as it is aimed at its restriction, prevention or elimination and is expressly prohibited by Article 34 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. It is the implementation of this norm of the Constitution of the Russian Federation that the antimonopoly legislation of the Russian Federation is aimed at.

The antimonopoly legislation in the Russian Federation includes the following legal acts:

• The “Constitution of the Russian Federation” was adopted by popular vote on December 12, 1993,
• · "Criminal Code of the Russian Federation" dated June 13, 1996,
• · "Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses" of December 26, 2001,
• · "On Protection of Competition" dated July 08, 2006,
• · "On financial and industrial groups" dated November 30, 1995,
• · “On natural monopolies” dated August 17, 1995,
• · "About joint-stock companies» December 26, 1995,
• · "On Advertising" dated March 13, 2006, and others, as well as regulatory legal acts of the President of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Russian Federation.

To implement antimonopoly policy, support market structures and entrepreneurship, state regulation of tariffs in the field of natural monopolies, suppression of monopoly on commodity markets, creating conditions for healthy competition in the Russian Federation, the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation (hereinafter FAS) operates. It is the FAS that is entrusted with the main responsibilities for the implementation of antimonopoly policy. On the basis of antimonopoly legislation, the FAS uses the following methods of antimonopoly regulation:

• restrictive measures;
• control over the increase in economic concentration;
• Prohibition of unfair competition.

restrictive measures

Restrictive measures are provided for by the Law “On Protection of Competition” and are applied by the antimonopoly authority to business entities that violate antimonopoly laws. These are prohibitions on monopolistic activity and unfair competition, on the actions of authorities and administrations that may adversely affect the development of competition.

Prohibitions on monopolistic activities are divided into prohibitions against agreements that restrict competition and prohibitions against enterprises abusing their dominant position. Such abuses are the most typical violation of antitrust laws.

Quite often there are such violations as the imposition of unfavorable terms of the contract on the counterparty, non-compliance with the pricing procedure, concerted actions of enterprises aimed at limiting competition.

The law prohibits setting monopolistically high or monopolistically low prices, withdrawing goods from circulation in order to create or maintain a shortage or increase the price, impose on the counterparty the terms of the contract that are unfavorable for him or not related to the subject of the contract, include in the contract discriminatory conditions that put the counterparty in an unequal position compared to other enterprises, to prevent other enterprises from entering the market (or leaving it), to induce the counterparty to refuse to conclude contracts with individual buyers (customers), despite the fact that it is possible to produce or supply the desired product.

Monopoly high price: Article 6 of the Law “On Protection of Competition” defines this concept: “monopolistically high price of a product (with the exception of a financial service) is the price set by a dominant economic entity if:

• 1) this price exceeds the price, which, in the conditions of competition in the goods market, is comparable in terms of the quantity of goods sold for a certain period, the composition of buyers or sellers of goods (determined based on the purposes of acquiring or selling goods) and access conditions (hereinafter referred to as a comparable goods market), establish economic entities that are not included in the same group of persons with buyers or sellers of goods and do not occupy a dominant position in a comparable product market;
• 2) this price exceeds the amount of expenses and profits necessary for the production and sale of such goods.
• 2. The price of goods shall not be recognized as monopolistically high if it does not meet at least one of the criteria specified in Part 1 of this Article. The monopolistically high price of goods, set by the subject of natural monopoly within the limits of the tariff for such goods, shall not be recognized.

Monopoly low price: the price of the purchased goods, set by the dominant buyer on the market of this product in order to obtain additional profit and (or) compensate for its unreasonable costs at the expense of the seller; a price deliberately set by the dominant seller of a product at a loss-making level in order to drive competitors out of the market.

According to the federal law "On natural monopolies" adopted State Duma RF in 1995 “In order to conduct an effective state policy in the areas of activity of subjects of natural monopolies, the regulatory bodies of natural monopolies exercise control over actions that are committed with the participation of or in relation to subjects of natural monopolies and which may result in infringement of the interests of consumers of goods in respect of which regulation in accordance with this federal law... ". As a result, in 2000, a special Unified Tariff Authority (UTO) was created to regulate the activities of natural monopolies. After the reorganization of the structure of the government of the Russian Federation, the Federal Tariff Service came to replace the ETO.

In other words, in industries with a natural monopoly, the freedom of market behavior - above all, the freedom of pricing - is limited, and state economic management has been introduced to replace it.

The Federal Tariff Service is a federal executive body authorized to carry out legal regulation in the field of state regulation of prices (tariffs) for goods (services) in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation and control over their application, with the exception of regulation of prices and tariffs related to the powers of others. federal executive authorities, as well as the federal executive authority for the regulation of natural monopolies, which performs the functions of determining (setting) prices (tariffs) and exercising control over issues related to the determination (setting) and application of prices (tariffs) in the areas of activity of natural monopolies monopolies.

Controlling increased economic concentration

Along with prohibitions on the conclusion of agreements harmful to competition and on the abuse of dominant position, control over economic concentration is used to combat the restriction of competition. It occurs:

• · as a result of the creation, reorganization or merger of enterprises and associations;
• when it becomes possible for a group of organizations to pursue a coherent policy in the market. According to the Law "On Competition and Restriction of Monopolistic Activities in Commodity Markets", if an enterprise reaches a certain threshold in terms of the volume of operations, it must obtain the consent of the antimonopoly authority for its actions (preliminary control) or notify it of them (post-control).

Restrictions on competition include:

first, agreements that prevent other enterprises from entering the market;

secondly, refusals to conclude contracts with certain sellers or buyers;

thirdly, agreements on the division of the market on a territorial basis or range of products sold, in terms of sellers or buyers;

Fourth, price agreements.

Pre-controlled:

first, creation, merging and joining commercial organizations, associations, unions and associations, if their assets exceed 100 thousand minimum wages;

secondly, the liquidation and separation (separation) of state and municipal unitary enterprises whose assets exceed 50 thousand minimum wages, if this leads to the emergence of an enterprise whose share in the commodity market exceeds 35% (except for cases when the enterprise is liquidated by a court decision ). In addition, prior consent is required when:

• · a person (a group of persons) acquires shares (stakes) with the right to vote in the authorized capital of a business entity, if he (she) acquires the right to dispose of more than 20% of such shares. This requirement does not apply to the founders of a business company during its formation;
• one enterprise (group of persons) receives ownership or use of the main production facilities, or intangible assets of another enterprise and the book value of the property constituting the subject of the transaction exceeds 10% of the book value of these funds and assets of the company alienating the property;
• · a person (a group of persons) acquires the rights to determine the conditions for conducting business activities of the enterprise or the functions of its executive body.

Prohibitions on the actions of authorities and management that may adversely affect competition.

The development of market relations involves the elimination of direct intervention government agencies power in the activities of enterprises.

We are talking about the dissemination of false, inaccurate or distorted information that can cause loss or damage, misleading consumers about the nature, method, place of manufacture, consumer properties and quality of the product, as well as incorrect comparison of one's own product with similar products of competitors. Unfair competition also includes the receipt, use, disclosure of scientific, technical, production, trade information or trade secrets without the consent of the owner.

The interest of entrepreneurs in protecting the business reputation of the enterprise and the legal protection of trademarks from their illegal use is growing.

The law prohibits the adoption of regulations and actions that limit the independence of enterprises, create discriminatory or favorable conditions for some to the detriment of others, and thereby limit competition, infringe on the interests of enterprises or citizens.

However, the authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation and local governments commit numerous violations, in particular, unreasonably provide benefits, restrict the creation of enterprises, impose bans on their activities, sale or purchase of goods, indicate the priority of some contracts, arbitrarily set the size of the registration fee, prevent the entry into the market of goods and services of "out-of-town" enterprises, etc.

Legislation prohibits officials of state power and administration from:

Firstly , engage in entrepreneurial activity, own an enterprise;

Secondly , independently or through representatives to vote through their shares (deposits, shares, shares) on general meetings shareholders;

Thirdly , to combine the functions of executive authorities and local self-government bodies with the functions of economic entities, as well as to give them the functions and rights of these bodies.

In addition, it is not allowed to create ministries, state committees, etc. to monopolize the production or sale of goods, as well as to empower existing bodies with powers that can limit competition. Therefore, decisions of the executive branch and local self-government on the creation, reorganization and liquidation of enterprises or the provision of benefits must be coordinated with the antimonopoly department.

Prohibition of unfair competition.

Actions aimed at acquiring advantages that are contrary to the law, business practices, the requirements of integrity, reasonableness and fairness and which caused (may cause) losses to competitors or damage to their business reputation.

Responsibility for Violation of Antimonopoly Legislation

In the final chapter of this work, the question of liability for violating the requirements of antimonopoly legislation should be raised, which is the basis for civil, administrative or criminal liability.

Article 178 has been included in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for criminal liability for monopolistic actions committed by establishing monopoly high or monopoly low prices, as well as limiting competition by dividing the market, restricting access to the market, eliminating other economic entities from it, establishing or maintaining uniform prices. “The disposition of Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not refer to a specific type of market, therefore it can be concluded that the article extends its effect to markets financial services» .

Restriction of access to the market - an act (action or inaction) of the guilty person, creating any unlawful obstacles to entry into the market of a business entity and infringing on his freedom economic activity. Restriction of access to the market can be expressed in the physical obstruction of the activities of competitors in the market, the introduction of unreasonable prohibitions, the creation of an unfavorable regime of activity, the restriction of the movement of goods and financial services, committed both by legal entities and state executive authorities and local governments.

The offense in question is a minor crime. The maximum punishment under part 1 is imprisonment for up to two years, and in case of violence or threats (part 3 of this article) up to 7 years. It should be noted that the vast majority of cases of violations of the antimonopoly legislation of the Russian Federation are of an administrative nature.

In order to consider each case of violation of the antimonopoly law, the antimonopoly authority creates, in accordance with the procedure provided for by the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition", a commission to consider the case of violation of the antimonopoly law. The Commission acts on behalf of the antimonopoly body and, after considering the case, issues a decision or an order.

The decision or order of the antimonopoly body may be appealed within three months from the date of the decision or issue of the order. If an application is filed with the court, the execution of the order of the antimonopoly body is suspended until the court decision enters into legal force.

If, during the consideration of a case on violation of the antimonopoly legislation, the antimonopoly body reveals circumstances indicating the existence of an administrative offense, the antimonopoly body initiates an administrative offense case in the manner prescribed by the legislation of the Russian Federation on administrative offenses.

The Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation contains two articles that can be directly attributed to the antimonopoly legislation of the Russian Federation, in particular: article 14.6. “Violation of the pricing procedure” and Article 14.9. "Restriction of Free Trade".

For example, the sanction of Article 14.9. of this Code, establishes the following punishments: “the imposition of an administrative fine in the amount of forty to fifty minimum dimensions wages".

Lecture 8. Antimonopoly regulation

2. Antitrust Law, its goals and objectives.

Development and implementation antitrust policy is among the most important economic functions modern state.

The conduct of antimonopoly policy is based on the conclusion that society incurs economic and other losses from crowding out market competition monopoly.

Competition- this is the competitiveness of economic entities, whose independent actions effectively limit the ability of each of them to unilaterally influence General terms production of goods and their circulation in the relevant market. This is a competition in which the most effective participants win.

Competition is one of the most important elements of the market, since it is competition that forces participants in economic relations to engage in activities necessary for society, is a mechanism for selection and regulation in market economy. Competition refers to such properties of a market economy, without which a market economy does not exist at all.

Antitrust policy is a set of measures government controlled aimed at preventing, limiting and suppressing monopolistic activities, providing all economic entities level playing field competition and prevention of unfair competition.
State antimonopoly regulation of the economy includes two interconnected directions:

1) development and adoption of special antimonopoly legislation;

2) formation of a system of bodies that carry out antimonopoly regulation and control compliance with antimonopoly legislation.

In the main capitalist countries, antimonopoly laws were adopted after the Second World War: in France in 1945, in Japan in 1947, in England in 1948, in the FRG in 1957. National laws reflect the specific conditions of their countries and differ from US law. However, antitrust laws are uniform in their fundamentals. Firstly, it puts mergers of companies under state control, secondly, it prohibits agreements and conspiracies of entrepreneurs and, thirdly, it suppresses unfair competition.

In Russia, the need for antimonopoly regulation was realized by the state authorities only by 1990, when the predecessor of the current Federal Antimonopoly Service, the RSFSR State Committee for Antimonopoly Policy and Support for New Economic Structures, was created. And in 1991, the fundamental law in the field of antimonopoly regulation "On competition and restriction of monopolistic activity in commodity markets" was adopted.
Goals and methods of antimonopoly regulation in Russia.
Antimonopoly regulation operates in order to ensure the unity of the economic space, the free movement of goods, the freedom of economic activity in the Russian Federation, the protection of competition and the creation of conditions for the effective functioning of commodity markets.

The strategic tasks of conducting antimonopoly policy and developing competition in Russia at the present stage were formulated by the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin on 08.02.2008 in a speech at an expanded meeting of the State Council “On the development strategy of Russia until 2020.

The main goal of antimonopoly regulation in Russia is to control the economic concentration on commodity and financial markets, which is necessary to prevent their monopolization.
Based on this, it is possible to determine tasks of antimonopoly regulation:
- support for healthy competition;

Ensuring freedom of economic activity on the territory of the Russian Federation;

Suppression of monopolistic activity, as well as unfair competition in commodity markets;

Prevention of creating obstacles to access to the commodity market or exit from the commodity market to other economic entities;

Creation of conditions for the effective functioning of commodity markets.
The main instrument of the state antimonopoly policy is the state-legal mechanism - antimonopoly legislation and the system of legislative, executive and judicial authorities. With the help of antimonopoly laws, the state exercises legal and administrative regulation of the activities of monopolies, creating conditions for the reproduction of competition.

Antimonopoly legislation, its goals and objectives

The main federal law aimed solely at maintaining achieved level and further development of competition, is the federal law of July 26, 2006 No. 135-FZ “On Protection of Competition”.

The federal law "On Protection of Competition" determines the organizational and legal framework for protection of competition.

The aims of the law are to ensure the unity of the economic space, the free movement of goods, the freedom of economic activity in the Russian Federation, the protection of competition and the creation of conditions for the effective functioning of commodity markets.

The Law “On Protection of Competition” defines the effective organizational and legal framework for the protection of competition in commodity and financial markets in Russia. These include: a clear definition of the range of transactions and actions that are performed with the prior consent of the antimonopoly authority; the definition of the dominant position of an economic entity in the commodity market is specified; a fundamentally new definition of prohibitions on various types of monopolistic activity is given; provides an exhaustive list of the powers of the antimonopoly body and the types of orders that it has the right to issue, etc.

The law develops antimonopoly legislation and specifies restrictions and prohibitions on monopolistic activities. law prohibited: abuse by an economic entity of a dominant position in the market; actions or agreements that restrict competition; unfair competition.

The law also defines general antimonopoly requirements for the procedure for conducting all types of tenders, competitions and auctions by authorities and extra-budgetary funds.

Strategic competition policy objectives require adherence to certain principles and methods in its implementation. Of the existing principles and methods can be distinguished:

Assessment of the impact on the competitive environment of measures to protect against unfavorable foreign competition;

Antimonopoly control over compliance with competition law;

Application of restrictive measures;

Counteracting unfair competition;

Economic concentration control;

Reducing barriers for firms to enter the market and create new companies;

Antimonopoly regulation in natural monopoly sectors;

Prohibitions on anti-competitive actions of authorities and administration;

Control in the field of placement of state orders;

Market Analysis;

Ensuring competition at the global level.

under restrictive measures understand prohibitions for monopolistic activity; unfair competition, which may lead to restriction of competition; direct intervention of state authorities in the activities of enterprises, etc.

Authorities are prohibited from granting privileges and benefits to individual companies. Competitive requirements are established for tenders and auctions in the course of public procurement.

Law "On Protection of Competition" prohibits concerted action between business entities which may lead to: setting monopoly high or monopolistically low prices; withdrawing a product from circulation in order to create or maintain a shortage; inclusion in the contract of discriminatory conditions that put the counterparty in an unequal position compared to other enterprises; inducing the counterparty to refuse to conclude contracts with individual buyers (customers).

Unfair competition- these are any actions of economic entities (a group of persons) aimed at obtaining advantages in the implementation of entrepreneurial activities that are contrary to the legislation of the Russian Federation, business practices, the requirements of integrity, reasonableness and fairness and have caused or may cause losses to other economic entities - competitors - or have caused or may harm their business reputation.

Unfair competition is not allowed , including:

Distribution of false, inaccurate or distorted information that may cause losses to an economic entity or damage its business reputation;

Misleading in relation to the nature, method and place of production, consumer properties, quality and quantity of goods or in relation to its producers;

Incorrect comparison by an economic entity of goods produced or sold by it with goods produced or sold by other economic entities;

Sale, exchange or other introduction into circulation of goods, if the results of intellectual activity and equivalent means of individualization of a legal entity, means of individualization of products, works, services were illegally used;

Illegal receipt, use, disclosure of information constituting a commercial, official or other secret protected by law.
The law provides for control over economic concentration.Economic concentration - transactions, other actions, the implementation of which has an impact on the state of competition. State concentration control is designed to prevent deterioration of the competitive environment and eliminate the possibility of a situation of abuse of dominant position. Therefore, the largest transactions on mergers and acquisitions are carried out in a permissive manner after agreement with the antimonopoly authority. The same procedure is provided for mergers and acquisitions involving foreign firms.

The law provides for lowering barriers for firms to enter the market and create new companies . The possibility of the emergence of new sellers is a deterrent to the manifestations of monopoly on the part of firms already operating in the market. The formation of new firms is also an important element in improving competitiveness.

Established antimonopoly regulation in natural monopoly industries. The economic meaning of a natural monopoly lies in the existence of such an effect in the industry, in which only one firm can operate on the market. This is typical for industries that require large-scale investment in distribution networks, such as electricity, gas and water, telecommunications, railways and so on.

However, even for such industries, mechanisms are provided to achieve competitive results:

1) withdrawal of excess profits by the regulatory body;

2) conducting inspections with the imposition of large fines in case of revealing an overestimation by firms of their costs;

3) setting tariffs as the average or lowest cost for a group of similar firms;

4) holding auctions for firms to obtain the right to produce products or provide services within a specified period.

Prohibitions on anti-competitive actions of authorities and administrations have been established. The law prohibits the adoption of regulations and actions that limit the independence of enterprises, create discriminatory or favorable conditions for some to the detriment of others, and thereby limit competition, infringe on the interests of enterprises or citizens.

The order and control in the field of placement of state orders (purchases) has been established. If such purchases turn into guaranteed ones for sellers, then the quality decreases, prices rise, and the competitive development of the economy stops. In order to prevent this from happening, strict procedures for placement and monitoring of compliance with these procedures have been developed.

To prevent and suppress monopolistic activities, the State Register of the Russian Federation is maintained . Inclusion of an economic entity in the register, exclusion of an economic entity from the register, introduction of amendments to the register is carried out on the basis of the order of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, if the economic entity has a share of more than thirty-five percent in the relevant commodity market of the Russian Federation as a whole. The register necessarily includes enterprises that are the only producers in Russia of certain types of products.

Control questions

1. What is the content and methods of antimonopoly regulation?

2. Name the tasks of antimonopoly regulation.

3. Formulate the goals and objectives of the antimonopoly legislation.

4. List the legislative measures to combat monopolistic activity in the economy.

A feature of the Russian antimonopoly legislation is its formation in the conditions of transition from one economic system to another, as well as an unusually high level of concentration compared to most countries.

The antimonopoly legislation of the Russian Federation includes the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Law on Competition and Restriction of Monopolistic Activities in Commodity Markets, federal laws issued in accordance with it, decrees of the President of the Russian Federation, resolution and order of the Government of the Russian Federation. The purpose of antimonopoly regulation is to prevent, restrict and suppress monopolistic activity and unfair competition and to provide conditions for the creation and effective functioning of commodity markets.

The antimonopoly bodies on the territory of the Russian Federation are the federal antimonopoly body - the Ministry for Antimonopoly Policy (formerly the State Committee for Antimonopoly Policy). In accordance with the legislation, the federal body has the right to create territorial bodies and give them appropriate powers.

Let's consider the features of the Russian antimonopoly legislation in comparison with the US legislation.

For historical reasons, in the Russian Federation, the greatest attention is paid to the regulation of abuses by an economic agent of its dominant position. At the same time, it is possible to withdraw goods from circulation in order to maintain a shortage and increase prices, to impose on the counterparty the terms of the contract that are unfavorable for him or not related to the subject of the contract, the inclusion of discriminatory conditions in the contract (price discrimination), the creation of obstacles to entering the market and exit from the market to other firms, monopoly overpricing and underpricing, etc. This feature of the legislation is due high level concentration, with the result that a significant number of markets were under the control of one or more firms, and the unbundling practice that takes place in the United States turned out to be inapplicable.

Secondly, the antimonopoly legislation of the Russian Federation distinguishes between vertical and horizontal agreements. Horizontal agreements that directly damage competition are immediately subject to legislation. At the same time, the concerted actions of competitors are considered illegal if the share of the parties to the agreement in total exceeds 35% on the market for a certain product. In some cases, a cartel agreement between competitors is allowed if the agreed policy of cartel participants leads to market saturation with goods, improvement in the quality of goods, an increase in the competitiveness of goods in the foreign market, or if the positive consequences of the cartel's activities exceed losses from price rigidity.

The regulation of vertical ties is more liberal. It is allowed to use vertical agreements as a preventive means in case of the threat of abuse by the dominant firm of its position.

Thirdly, one of strengths Russian antimonopoly legislation is the definition of a dominant company through a functional characteristic - the ability to exert a decisive influence on the conditions for the circulation of goods on the market. This allows you to use this definition in one or another expanded. At the same time, a firm cannot be recognized as dominant if the market share is less than 35%. With a share of 35 - 65%, the burden of proof of a dominant position lies with the antimonopoly authority, and with a share of more than 65% - with the company. At the same time, market share matters for a long time.

Fourth, attitudes towards mergers in the Russian antimonopoly legislation are based on a quantitative criterion - a certain share of assets and the market. The book value of assets is the main parameter for applying to the antimonopoly authorities to obtain consent to the creation, reorganization and liquidation of firms. At the same time, the lower threshold for the total balance sheet value of the assets of economic agents during the merger is set at 100,000 minimum wages, and the total market share after the merger should not exceed 35%. In addition, mergers and acquisitions Russian practice– attachments) can be allowed if their positive effects exceed the negative ones. The last point is most important in the light of the formation of vertically and horizontally integrated structures such as oil, gas and metallurgical holdings.

Finally, the main methods of regulation of monopolies in Russia are:

· state control over the creation, reorganization, liquidation of commercial organizations and their associations;

· state control over compliance with antimonopoly legislation in the acquisition of shares (stakes) in the authorized capital of commercial organizations and in other cases;

forced division (allocation) of commercial organizations and non-profit organizations engaged in entrepreneurial activities;

· price regulation of monopolistic behavior by setting a price limit, and limiting coefficients of price change, profitability limit, establishment.

The system of state regulation of the economy, formed in all industrial developed countries, as an obligatory element, provides for the creation of favorable conditions for the development of a competitive environment in the market for goods and services. At the same time, one of the main instruments limiting monopolistic activity, the basis that creates guarantees for the existence of competition, is antimonopoly legislation.

Antimonopoly legislation is a set of legal acts in countries with a market economy aimed at maintaining a competitive environment, counteracting monopolism and unfair competition.

Russia's first antimonopoly regulation - the Law "On Competition and Restriction of Monopolistic Activity in Commodity Markets" was adopted on March 22, 1991 in subsequent editions.

The law was the basis for the formation of antimonopoly legislation in the Russian Federation, the preparation and adoption of relevant regulatory documents. Such documents include the Rules for Considering Cases on Violations of Antimonopoly Legislation (approved by Order No. 53 of the SCAP of Russia dated May 12, 1994), the Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

The condition for freedom of competition is Art. 8 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which gives legal guarantees of the unity of the economic space, free movement of goods, services and financial resources, support for competition and freedom of economic activity. The unimpeded implementation of entrepreneurial activities and the prohibition of economic activities aimed at monopolization and unfair competition are enshrined in Art. 34 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and art. 74 of the same Constitution prohibits the establishment of customs borders and fees, as well as other obstacles that impede the free movement of goods and services.

The system of normative legal acts regulating competition and monopolistic activity in the market of goods and services includes separate norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. So, paragraph 1 of Art. 10 does not allow the use civil rights in order to limit competition, as well as abuse of a dominant position in the market, and paragraph 1 of Art. 1033 under a commercial concession agreement provides for the possibility to oblige the user not to compete with the right holder in the territory covered by the agreement. If, however, it is established that these restrictive conditions are contrary to antimonopoly legislation, then at the request of the antimonopoly body they may be declared invalid.

A separate block is made up of acts on the State Register of monopoly enterprises and on special regulation of their activities. The legal foundations of antimonopoly are contained in the Laws on Enterprises and Entrepreneurial Activity, on the Arbitration Court, the Arbitration Process, in the regulatory documents governing the privatization process.

The rules of law, designed to strengthen the freedom of competition and limit the omnipotence of monopolies, are also contained in federal laws: July 18, 1995 "On Advertising"; dated July 19, 1995 "On natural monopolies"; dated February 7, 1992 as amended on January 9, 1996 "On the protection of consumer rights", dated June 29, 1999 "On protection of competition in the financial services market"; dated April 14, 1998 "On measures to protect the economic interests of the Russian Federation in the implementation foreign trade goods."

Among the aforementioned antimonopoly laws, the main one is the Law on Competition, which determines not only the organizational, but also the legal framework for preventing, restricting and suppressing monopolistic activities and unfair competition and is aimed at ensuring appropriate conditions for the creation and effective functioning of commodity markets.

The scope of this Law is very broad, that is, its rules apply to relations that affect competition in the commodity markets in the Russian Federation, the participants of which are Russian and foreign legal entities, federal authorities executive authorities, executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local governments, as well as individuals, including individual entrepreneurs.

The law does not apply to relations related to objects of exclusive rights, except in cases where agreements related to their use are aimed at restricting competition. Its actions do not apply to relations related to monopolistic activities, unfair competition in the markets. valuable papers and financial services.

The regulatory and legal basis for the regulation and control of the activities of natural monopolies is formed by laws and other regulations adopted by both federal government bodies and constituent entities of the Russian Federation on issues that are within their exclusive jurisdiction or joint jurisdiction with the Russian Federation.

The decisive role is played by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation “On Natural Monopolies”, adopted on July 19, 1995, which laid the legal foundations for regulating and controlling the activities of natural monopolies in the Russian Federation. In addition, regulatory legal acts have been adopted to regulate relations in certain areas of natural monopolies. These are, in particular, the Federal Law of the Russian Federation “On Railway Transport in the Russian Federation” dated January 10, 2003 1 ; Federal Law of the Russian Federation "On Communications" dated February 16, 1995 2; Federal Law of the Russian Federation "On Energy Supply" dated March 15, 1996 3; Federal Law of the Russian Federation "On State Regulation of Tariffs for Electricity and Heat in the Russian Federation" dated March 10, 1995 4 ; Federal Law of the Russian Federation "On gas supply in the Russian Federation" dated 31.03. 1995

The functions of regulation and control of the activities of subjects of natural monopolies in accordance with the Law "On Natural Monopolies" are carried out by the federal bodies of the Russian Federation, which have the right to create their own territorial bodies and empower them within their competence. In accordance with this Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 29, 1995 No. 1194, the Federal Energy Commission of the Russian Federation 1 was formed, of February 26, 1996 No. 276 - the Federal Service of the Russian Federation for the Regulation of Natural Monopolies in Transport 2 , by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 10, 1996 No. 1343 approved the regulation on the Federal Service of the Russian Federation for the regulation of natural monopolies in the field of communications 3 . However, in the structure of federal executive bodies, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of September 22, 1998 No. 1142, were abolished federal Service of Russia for the regulation of natural monopolies in the field of communications and the federal service of Russia for the regulation of natural monopolies in transport, and their functions were transferred to the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Antimonopoly Policy and Entrepreneurship Support.

The regulatory bodies of natural monopolies not only form and maintain a register of subjects of natural monopolies, but can also apply to them such methods of influencing their activities as price regulation, carried out through the establishment of prices (tariffs) or their limit level; determination of consumers subject to compulsory service and (or) establishment of a minimum level of their provision in case of impossibility to fully meet the needs for goods produced (sold) by a natural monopoly subject, taking into account the need to protect the rights and legitimate interests of citizens, ensure state security, protect nature and cultural values.

Thus, natural monopolies are under the control of two federal structures - antimonopoly bodies and special bodies regulating the activities of natural monopolies.

Antimonopoly regulation in the sphere of financial services is regulated by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 117-FZ “On Protection of Competition in the Financial Services Market” 4 . In the Law "On Protection of Competition in the Financial Services Market" in Art. 5 for the first time the definition of the concept of the financial services market as a field of activity is given financial institutions on the territory of the Russian Federation or its part, determined based on the place where the financial service is provided to consumers.

2. HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE REGULATION OF COMPETITION IN RUSSIA

At the end of the 20th century, our country embarked on the path of transition from a planned economy to a market economy, an integral part of which is competition as necessary condition business development. Today we understand that the fiercer the competition in the domestic market, the better prepared national firms are to fight for markets abroad, and the more advantageous are consumers in the domestic market both in terms of prices and product quality. After all, competitive products should have such consumer properties that would favorably distinguish them from similar products of competitors. It is competition that turns the country's economic system into a self-regulatory apparatus; it is not for nothing that Adam Smith called it the "invisible hand of the market."

Quite recently, in the centrally planned economy of our country, such concepts as competition and monopoly were absolutely inapplicable and were banned. It was believed that contemporary issues The competition that takes place in a market economy is of no practical importance for the activity of socialist enterprises, since the methods of the capitalist economic system are alien to them.

Competition, for example, was defined as "an antagonistic struggle between private commodity producers for the most favorable conditions for the production and sale of goods, which is inevitably accompanied by anarchy and disaster, is carried out by cruel and predatory methods, and leads to devastating economic and social consequences" 1 .

At first glance, such a characterization of competition may seem correct, because, as F. Hayek figuratively noted, “competition is often objected to on the grounds that it is “blind”. However, the author notes, it is useful to recall that the ancients depicted the goddess of justice with a blindfold, which served as a symbol of her impartiality and justice. Competition, perhaps, has little in common with justice, but they have one common virtue - both of them "do not look at faces" 1 .

“In a developed market,” writes S.E. Zhilinsky, “competition is a constant race without a finish line, when you can’t stop, take a break from exhausting rivalry” 2 .

The first attempt to create antimonopoly legislation in Russia was made as early as 1908. The Sherman Act in the United States was taken as a model. However, organizations of Russian entrepreneurs met the draft law with hostility and managed to thwart its adoption.

As a result of transformations in the Russian Federation, the foundations of state monopoly have been destroyed, the nature of monopolization, and the structure of markets have changed. For certain commodity groups, it was possible to eliminate the deficit, and the first competitive markets emerged.

In Russia today there is a very high degree market monopolization. So, in mechanical engineering 85% large enterprises are complete monopolists in the production of certain types of products. In our country, monopolism has been planted "from above" by the state for decades. Therefore, demonopolization is the most important prerequisite for the formation of a market and competition relations between enterprises.

The legal basis for the fight against monopolies and unfair competition appeared in Russia only in 1991, when the Law
"On Competition and Restriction of Monopolistic Activity in Commodity Markets".
This law states that:

1) the actions of a firm occupying a dominant position in the market are prohibited if they result in a significant restriction of competition and infringement of the interests of other market participants, including individual citizens;

2) monopoly collusion on prices, withdrawal of goods from the market to maintain a shortage, division of the market, attempts to restrict access to the market of competing firms are prohibited;

3) firms engaged in unfair competition, in particular: disseminating false information about the goods and firms of their competitors in order to scare away buyers from them, are subject to punishment; deceiving buyers about the real properties and quality of their product; undeservedly belittling in their advertising the quality of their competitors' products; illegally using other people's names and trademarks for their products, as well as copying the shape, packaging and external design of their competitors' products; stealing from their competitors their commercial secrets, as well as technical, production and trade information;

4) control over the activities of monopolists is carried out by the State Committee for Antimonopoly Policy (Antimonopoly Committee);

5) in case of violation of the requirements of the law, the Antimonopoly Committee has the right to terminate any business contract, demand that the monopolist compensate for the losses caused by its actions, and also impose a fine on the guilty company in the amount of up to 1 million rubles.

The law establishes the concept of "dominant position", that is, the exclusive position of an economic entity or several economic entities in the market of a certain product that does not have a substitute, or interchangeable goods, enabling it to exert a decisive influence on competition, hinder access to the market for other economic entities or otherwise restrict their freedom of economic activity. The position of such a firm, whose market share is 65% or more, can be recognized as dominant. A list of shares has been established that are treated as abuse of dominance. These include the withdrawal of goods from circulation in order to create a shortage, the imposition of conditions that are unfavorable to the counterparty or not related to the subject of the contract, the creation of obstacles to access to the market of competitors, violation established order pricing. Collusions on the prices of goods and services, on prices at auctions and tenders, on the division of the market, on the restriction of access to the market are recognized as agreements of economic entities that restrict competition.

The law establishes state control over the creation, merger, accession, transformation, liquidation of economic entities, as well as over compliance with antimonopoly laws when acquiring shares, shares, stakes in the authorized capital of an enterprise, forced separation of economic entities. The liability of enterprises and officials for violating antimonopoly legislation is provided for.

This law is still in effect today.

In 1995, domestic firms were given the right to initiate cases on charges of dumping in order to oust competitors from Russian market. This was the result of a set of methods for combating monopolism that is gradually being improved in our country.

The antimonopoly authorities of Russia will have to work in this direction for a long time until they find the most effective ways specifically for our country to support competition and limit monopolistic manifestations. After all, the first attempts to regulate the activities of monopolies, undertaken in our country in 1992-1993, did not bring much success. It became clear that the special structure of the Russian economy, which we spoke about above, reduces the effectiveness of methods that work quite successfully in countries with developed economic systems market type.

That is why, in the spring of 1994, the government approved a completely new model of antimonopoly policy proposed in the "State Program for the Demonopolization of the Economy and the Development of Competition in the Markets of the Russian Federation." From now on, firms dominating the market in Russia can be classified into one of three categories:

1) natural monopolies;

2) allowed monopolies;

3) temporary monopolies.

Natural monopolies in our country will now be considered industries or firms that have two characteristics:

a) they produce products or services that cannot be imported from abroad or brought from other regions of the country;

b) they operate in a market where the creation of a competitive environment by increasing the number of manufacturing firms is not economically efficient.

Permitted monopolies will be considered industries and firms that provide for the needs of the state in defense and security or produce certain specific types of products, where a reduction in the number of manufacturing firms makes it easier for the state to control the quality and sales of these products.

Industries fall into this category defense industry, as well as firms producing alcoholic beverages and tobacco products (excise goods that require licensing) and medicines.

Temporary monopolies will be recognized as branches and firms that turned out to be dominant producers in the markets of their goods due to the policy of consolidation of enterprises pursued earlier in the country, and not due to the greater efficiency of their work.

It is temporary and natural monopolies that will now be the subject of special attention of the Antimonopoly Committee of the Russian Federation and the government as a whole. The economic practice of recent years has convincingly shown that it is precisely such firms and industries that influence the development domestic economy most negatively, it is they who bear a large share of the blame for spinning the “flywheel” of inflation.

An example can be given of the rise in prices for products or services of natural monopolists in comparison with prices in the industry as a whole. At the same time, the accelerated price growth in natural monopoly industries cannot be attributed to an increase in the cost of the resources they consume.
So, in the first quarter of 1994, the costs of enterprises
ties increased due to rising prices:

for electricity - 1.5 times,

in terms of material resources - 1.8 times,

for transport operations - 2.5 times.

But at the same time, signalmen increased the tariffs for their own services by 2.7 times, which allowed them to increase their salaries accordingly.
to its employees by 2.4 times (much more than in other industries).

As a result, the delivery of newspapers and magazines in Russia began to cost more than the actual subscription to them, and many press organs were forced to introduce such a strange form of distribution of their publications as "subscription with receipt directly from the editorial office."

Other natural Russian monopolies carry out a similar practice. Because of this wage, for example, in the electric power industry is now 4-5 times higher than the industry average (depending on the region of the country and the pricing policy of the local energy system operating there). Approximately the same is higher than the average salary in railway transport, and communications workers are only slightly inferior in the salary race.

But how will Russia fight its natural and temporary monopolies?

As far as natural monopolies are concerned,
regulation of their activities provided for the creation of 3 years of special federal agencies. These agencies have the right to establish for natural monopolists:

List of consumers they are obliged to serve;

Price level and structure;

Plan for investing in the expansion of production.

In other words, in industries with a natural monopoly, the freedom of market behavior will be limited, and state economic management will replace it.

It was on this basis that the Russian government in October 1995, for example, took a decision to "freeze" prices (that is, prohibit their increase) in natural monopoly industries until the end of the year. Gas prices freeze
and electricity, as well as railway tariffs and tariffs for
pumping oil and oil products through pipelines.

In relation to temporary monopolies, a different policy will be pursued. To weaken their power over the market, the state intends to implement the following measures:

Prohibit the formation of financial and industrial groups capable of seizing a dominant position in the local commodity markets of individual regions of the country;

ban,
already existing financial and industrial groups
to include in its composition enterprises that occupy a dominant position in the local commodity markets of certain
regions
countries;

Encourage the import of interchangeable goods from neighboring regions, as well as countries of the near and far abroad to weaken the dominance of the monopolist in the market;

Carry out forced disaggregation of monopoly firms with the creation on their basis of several independent and competing firms;

Encourage new construction, as well as the creation of small firms, if this can help reduce the degree of market monopolization.

At the same time, the most effective method for solving the problem of improving the competitive situation in the domestic markets of Russia is their maximum opening to the goods of foreign firms. The only trouble is that this “treatment procedure” is extremely difficult to dose, and its consequences are ambiguous. The fact is that domestic enterprises are still completely losing the competition with foreign competitors in terms of the “price-quality” ratio when comparing similar goods (Russian goods, in terms of a comparable level of quality, are more expensive than foreign ones).

Therefore, the invasion of the domestic market by large quantities of foreign goods leads to the fact that domestic firms generally “lose the market” (this happened, for example, with Russian manufacturers of televisions and tape recorders after large quantities of electronics from Southeast Asia appeared in stores).

Of course, the appearance on the market of better and relatively cheaper goods is beneficial for buyers. And they (acting quite rationally) will buy foreign products. But the state cannot ignore the fact that such a development of events will lead to the collapse of not only individual Russian firms, but entire industries. national economy. And this threatens with an explosion of unemployment, for the absorption of which the country does not yet have the means.

As a result, the Russian government has to constantly act on the principle of "one step forward - two steps back": either open the domestic market for the supply of foreign goods in order to pacify domestic monopolists, then again "close the door" in order to prevent the complete death of domestic industry.

It is because of this, for example, in Russia in recent years that the conditions for the import of foreign cars competing with domestic Zhiguli, Muscovites and Volga. The government either increased state duties on imports of cars, or reduced them, which, accordingly, caused a relative rise in price or reduction in price of foreign cars in comparison with the products of the domestic automotive industry.

The problem of monopolies in Russia has not yet been resolved, and its quick solution is not expected in a short time.

3. INDUSTRY FORMATION OF ANTI-MONOPOLY LEGISLATION

The problems of legal protection of competitive relations have taken their rightful place in domestic legal science only in the last ten or fifteen years, since this is a relatively new legal phenomenon in our system of law. In this vein, some scholars suggest using the term "competition law". For example, K.Yu. Totiev understands the antimonopoly law as a system of federal regulatory legal acts that regulate the activities of subjects of competition and monopolies in order to protect private and public interests on the basis of Part 3 of Art. 55 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation 1 . According to the scientist, the term "antitrust law" emphasizes the ultimate and positive goal legal regulation– creation of conditions for the development, support and protection of competition 2 .

Of great interest is the point of view of S.A. Parashchuk, who, using the term "legislation on competition and monopoly", divides the latter into acts of competition legislation and acts of legislation on state and natural monopolies. At the same time, the antimonopoly legislation, according to the scientist, in turn, includes regulatory legal acts that traditionally contain two main groups of legal norms: antimonopoly law norms and unfair competition law norms. According to the author, in the conditions of insufficient development of competitive relations in domestic markets, there is a need to single out another, third group of norms contained in acts of antimonopoly legislation, aimed primarily at developing and stimulating competitive relations themselves 3 .

S.A. Parashchuk emphasizes that the traditional areas of competition law (i.e., antitrust and legal protection from unfair competition) are not always clearly distinguished from each other. Indeed, Russian laws on competition in commodity and financial markets classify the rules on unfair competition as part of the antimonopoly legislation, which, according to the scientist, is very controversial, since these areas of legal regulation of competition have significant differences in tasks, subjects of regulation and other grounds 1 . Thus, antimonopoly law and unfair competition law are independent areas of competition law, which was not taken into account by the Russian legislator.

The composition of the antimonopoly legislation has different points vision. All of them can be divided into two groups: "antimonopoly law in the narrow sense" and "antimonopoly law in the broad sense" 2 .

Antimonopoly legislation in the narrow sense is used to refer to regulatory legal acts, a list of which is given in Art. 1.1. and 2 of the Law on Competition: the Constitution of the Russian Federation; named Law; federal laws regulating relations related to monopolistic activity and unfair competition in the financial services markets; Decrees of the President of the Russian Federation that do not contradict the Law on Competition and the named federal laws; Decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation adopted on the basis of and in pursuance of the Law on Competition, federal laws and Decrees of the President of the Russian Federation.

In this regard, V.I. Eremenko rightly notes that the normative legal acts adopted by the federal antimonopoly body are cut off from the antimonopoly legislation, in connection with which the legality of the latter can be questioned.

The antimonopoly legislation in a broad sense, in addition to the norms of the above acts, includes all the norms on the development (protection) of competition and the regulation of monopolies contained in federal laws and other regulations. So, for example, A.N. Varlamova considers competition law as legislative acts that regulate competitive relations (competition law itself) and other acts containing antimonopoly and competitive norms. The latter, in her opinion, include: partially legislation on pricing, legislation on foreign entrepreneurs, tax legislation, legislation on small business and other legislation of an entrepreneurial orientation, one way or another affecting the creation and position of competitive economic entities 1 .

Antimonopoly legislation currently consists of the following acts: the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which proclaims and guarantees support for competition; the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which creates the basis for the free development of entrepreneurship and the development of competition and at the same time prohibits its restriction; the Law on Competition and other normative acts of various legal levels, in which competition is considered as a direct object of legal regulation; normative acts defining the rights and obligations of the bodies responsible for the development of competitive relations; normative acts regulating the activity of organizations-monopolists; normative acts regulating the activities of natural monopolies; normative acts aimed at the demonopolization of the economy, primarily State program demonopolization and development of competition in the markets of the Russian Federation; provisions of normative acts of other areas of legislation that affect the development of competitive relations - legislation on the protection of consumer rights, on pricing, customs regulation, etc.; normative acts that create the basis for the development of entrepreneurial activity and indirectly influence the development of competitive relations (legislation regulating the position of new structures: FIGs, trading houses, new forms of trade, as well as small businesses); acts of different legal levels that form the basis practical application certain provisions of the Law on Competition 2 .

In the hierarchical ladder of normative legal acts, the top position is occupied by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which regulates the most important, fundamental public relations in the field of competition between insurance companies. According to Art. 34, every person in the Russian Federation has the right to freely use his abilities and property for entrepreneurial and other economic activities not prohibited by law, however, such economic activities that are aimed at monopolization and unfair competition are not allowed. One of the foundations of the constitutional order of our state is the guarantee of support for the unity of the economic space, free movement of goods, services and financial resources, competition, freedom of economic activity (clause 1, article 8).

The core of Russian antimonopoly legislation is the Law on Competition, adopted on March 22, 1991, with subsequent amendments and additions. With regard to the scope of this Law, it applies to relations affecting competition in the commodity markets in the Russian Federation, in which Russian and foreign legal entities, federal executive authorities, state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local authorities, other endowed functions or rights of these authorities, bodies or organizations, as well as individuals, including individual entrepreneurs. The law is also applied in cases where actions and agreements performed or entered into by these persons outside the Russian Federation lead or may lead to restriction of competition or entail other negative consequences in the markets in the Russian Federation (clause 1, article 2).

Relations related to monopolistic activity and unfair competition in the financial services markets are excluded from the scope of the Law, except for cases when the relations developing in these markets have an impact on competition in the commodity markets. These relations are regulated by other federal laws (clause 3, article 2), that is, the Federal Law on the Protection of Competition in the Financial Services Market.

The federal law on the protection of competition was adopted with a huge delay - only in 1999, and on December 30, 2001 it was amended.

Kamasheva Hope. Education in the Netherlands

Antitrust Law

Antitrust Law - legislation against accumulation firms dangerous for monopoly power societies; set of legal rules governing activity economic entities aimed at creating, developing, maintaining competitive environment, prevention, suppression of anti-competitive practices. IN contemporary world antimonopoly legislation and the antimonopoly policy are one of the most important means state regulation economy. The main objectives of the antimonopoly legislation of most states are: protection and encouragement of competition, control over economic entities that occupy a dominant position in market, process control concentration of production And capital centralization, control over pricing, assistance petty and average entrepreneurship and protecting him interests, protection of interests consumers.

In some states, antitrust laws include legal provisions to prevent dishonest competition against dishonest competitive fight in the markets. In a narrow sense, antitrust laws are directed against pure monopolies and large oligopolistic associations, as well as to prevent "dishonest" action violating norms business communication. The first stage in the development of antimonopoly regulation began in 1876 when agencies were set up in several US states to oversee prices and services. It was the United States that was characterized during this period by the greatest concentration of production. The second stage was associated with the adoption of 1890 US Congress First Act antitrust legislation - the Sherman Act Against Monopoly in Trade and Business, which has become the cornerstone of antitrust policy. The law prohibited any form of contracts (associations, conspiracies, agreements, etc.) aimed at limiting freedom trade; outlawed "unscrupulous methods" of eliminating competitors, considered as a criminal offense.

Violations of the Act were punishable by fines, damages, imprisonment, and the dissolution of the firm. IN Russia antitrust laws appeared with the beginning of the transition to a market economy. One of the first adopted in Russia normative acts in the field of antimonopoly regulation is the Law RF from 22 MR 1991"On Competition and Restriction of Monopolistic Activity in Commodity Markets". IN 1995 was accepted by him new edition. The law determines organizational and the legal framework for the prevention, restriction and suppression of monopolistic activities and unfair competition and introduces the concept of the dominant position of an economic entity, which can be recognized by the antimonopoly committee if the company's market share in a particular product is 65% or more.