Competition Law in Russia

Foreign companies seeking to enter the Russian market must comply with various laws. One of the most important is the Competition Law which provides for fair trading activities in Russia. During the years, the Russian Competition Law or the Federal Law on the Protection of Competition has been amended several times. The last amendment was released in 2017.

Below, our Russian lawyers provide an overview of the new Competition Law in this country.

Industries covered by the Competition Law in Russia

Both local and foreign companies operating in Russia must comply with several laws and regulations imposed by the Company Law, by the Commercial Act, and by the Competition Law. Also, the Competition Law covers several industries which are of strategic importance for the Russian economy. Among these are:

• -          the natural resources sector which implies the oil and gas sub-sectors;
• -          the transportation industry with all of its 3 branches: air, sea, and road;
• -          the electricity industry where state-owned companies are the largest suppliers of electricity;
• -          other industries, such as manufacturing, retail, pharma, and trading.

The activities of companies operating on the local market are overseen by the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS).

The provisions of the Russian Competition Law

The main provisions of the Competition Law in Russia refer to:

• -          the prohibition of restrictive contracts and practices which provide the concentration of activities in a certain region;
• -          the prohibition of unfair practices which imply unequal access to all companies in a certain industry on the Russian market;
• -          the prohibition of monopolization and the dominant power position which implies the control of the market;
• -          the prohibition of concentration control related to transactions in mergers and acquisitions;
• -          the prohibition of unfair practices in order to obtain control over an activity by a single company.

Under the Competition Law, Russian companies failing to comply with these regulations will be subject to investigations and, if found guilty, fined by the FAS.

For full information on the provisions of the Competition Law in Russia, please contact our local law firm. We can also help foreign investors who want to open businesses in Russia.