Source: https://en.nikolev.net/legislation/explanation-of-laws/31-russian-federal-law-on-protection-of-competition.html
Timestamp: 2020-07-11 20:00:31
Document Index: 91278900

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 3', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 2', 'art 1', 'arts 5', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art;\n9']

Russian Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" » Nikoleva Julia - Patent Attorney
Nikoleva Julia » Legislation » Explanation of laws » Russian Federal Law "On Protection of Competition"
Source: http://en.fas.gov.ru/documents/documentdetails.html?id=14737
Original text: https://nikolev.net/legislation/laws/53-federalnyy-zakon-o-zaschite-konkurencii.html
Adopted by the State Duma on July 8, 2006
Article 1. Subject and Objectives
of this Federal Law
The Federal Law determines organizational and legal basis for protection of competition including prevention and restriction of:
1) monopolistic activity and unfair competition;
2) prevention, restriction, elimination of competition by federal executive authorities, public authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation, bodies of local self-government, other bodies or organizations exercising the functions of the above-mentioned bodies, as well as public extra-budgetary funds, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
Objectives of this Federal Law are to ensure common economic area, free movement of goods, protection of competition, and freedom of economic activity in the Russian Federation and to create conditions for effective functioning of the goods markets.
Article 2. Antimonopoly Legislation
of the Russian Federation and Other Statutory
Legal Acts on Protection of Competition
The antimonopoly legislation of the Russian Federation (further on referred to as referred to as antimonopoly legislation) is based on the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and consists of this Federal Law, other Federal Laws regulating relations stated in Article 3 of this Federal Law.
Relations stated in Article 3 of this Federal Law may be regulated by Regulations of the Russian Federation Government, statutory legal acts of the Federal Antimonopoly body in cases directly provided for in the antimonopoly legislation.
If an International Treaty of the Russian Federation establishes different rules than those provided for by this Federal Law, the rules provided for by the International Treaty of the Russian Federation are applied.
This Federal Law is applied to the relations which are connected with protection of competition, including prevention and restriction of monopolistic activity and unfair competition and in which Russian legal persons and foreign legal persons, organizations, federal executive authorities, public authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation, bodies of local self-government, other bodies or organizations exercising the functions of the above-mentioned bodies, as well as public extra-budgetary funds, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, physical persons, including individual entrepreneurs are involved.
2. Provisions of this Federal Law are applicable to the agreements reached between Russian and (or) foreign persons or organizations outside the Russian Federation, as well as to actions performed by them, if such agreements or actions affect the state of competition in the Russian Federation.
Provisions of this Federal Law are not applicable to the relations regulated by common rules of competition on transborder markets, compliance with which is controlled by Eurasian Economic Commission in accordance with the international treaty of the Russian Federation. Criteria of transborder markets are established in accordance with international treaty of the Russian Federation.
Article 4. Basic Definitions
Used in this Federal Law
The following basic definitions are used in this Federal Law:
1) goods –are the objects of civil rights (including work, service, and financial service) intended for sale, exchange or trade in another form;
2) financial service – is a banking service, an insurance service, a service in the securities market, a leasing service, as well as a service provided by a financial organization and connected with attracting and allocating funds of legal and physical persons;
3) substitute goods – are goods that can be compared by their functional purpose, application, qualitative and technical characteristics, price and other parameters in such a manner that purchaser actually substitutes or is ready to substitute one commodity with another in the process of consumption (including consumption for production purposes);
4) goods market – is an area of circulation of a commodity (including commodity of foreign manufacture), which cannot be substituted by another commodity, or substitute goods (further on referred to as referred to as a certain commodity), within the frames of which (including geographical frames) basing on economic, technical or other possibility, or expediency the purchaser can obtain the commodity and this possibility or expediency is absent outside its frames;
5) an economic entity – a commercial organization, a non-commercial organisation involved in an income-generating activity, an individual entrepreneur, another physical person that is not registered as an individual entrepreneur but is involved in a professional income-generating activity, in accordance with the federal laws on the basis of state registration and (or) a license as well as due to membership in a self-regulated organisation;
6) financial organization – is an economic entity providing financial services: a credit institution, microfinance organisation, credit consumer cooperative, insurer, insurance broker, mutual insurance association, stock exchange, monetary exchange, pawnshop, leasing company, non-governmental pension fund, management company of investment fund, management company of unit investment fund, specialized depositary of investment fund, specialized depositary of unit investment fund, specialized depositary of non-governmental pension fund, professional Participant of the securities market;
7) competition – is a rivalry between economic entities during which the independent actions of each of them exclude or restrict the possibility for each of them to influence unilaterally on the general conditions of circulation of commodities in the relevant goods market;
8) discriminatory conditions – are conditions of access to a goods market, conditions of production, exchange, consumption, purchase, sale, another way of transfer of goods, when an economic entity or several economic entities are placed at a competitive disadvantage in comparison with another economic entity or the other economic entities;
9) unfair competition – is any actions of economic entities (groups of persons) aimed at getting benefits while exercising business activity, contradicting with the legislation of the Russian Federation, business traditions, requirements of respectability, rationality and equity and which inflicted or can inflict losses to the other economic entities-competitors or harmed or can harm their business reputation;
10) monopolistic activity – is abuse by an economic entity, a group of their dominant position, agreements or concerted practices prohibited by the antimonopoly legislation, as well as other actions (lack of action) recognized as monopolistic activity in accordance with the Federal Laws;
11) systematic implementation of monopolistic activity – is implementation of monopolistic activity by an economic entity exposed more than two times in three years in accordance with the procedure established by this Federal Law;
12) unjustifiably high price of a financial service, unjustifiably low price of a financial service – is the price of a financial service or financial services, which is
established by a financial organization occupying a dominant position, and which differs considerably from the competitive price of a financial service and (or) impedes access to the goods market for the other financial organizations and (or) has negative impact on competition;
13) competitive price of a financial service – is the price for which a financial service can be provided in the conditions of competition;
14) coordination of economic activity – coordination of actions of economic entities by a third person, that is not a member of the same group with any of such economic entities and is not involved in activities on the market, where actions of economic entities are coordinated. Actions of economic entities exercised as part of “vertical” agreements do not constitute coordination of economic activities;
15) antimonopoly body – is the federal antimonopoly body and its territorial offices;
16) acquisition of stocks (shares in the authorized capital) of business Partnerships – is purchase as well as gaining of another opportunity to exercise the voting rights given by the stocks of business Partnerships (shares in the authorized capital) on the basis of agreements on trust management, agreements on joint activity, contract of agency, other transactions, or on other grounds;
17) signs of restricting competition – reduction in the number of economic entities, that are not members of the same group, on a goods market, increasing or decreasing prices, which is not connected to the relevant changes in other general conditions of goods circulation on the market, a refusal of economic entities, which are not members of the same group, to take independent actions on the goods market, defining general conditions of goods circulation on the goods market by an agreement between economic entities or in accordance with binding instructions from another person, or as a result of coordinating actions on a goods market by economic entities that are not members of the same group, or other circumstances that create possibility for an economic entity or several economic entities to unilaterally affect the general conditions of goods circulation in the goods market, as well as setting requirements for the goods or economic entities, that are not provided for by the law of the Russian Federation, by the governmental authorities, local self-government bodies, organisations involved in providing public or municipal services when they take part in providing such services;
18) agreement – is a written understanding contained in a document or several documents, as well as verbal understanding;
19) a vertical agreement – an agreement between economic entities, one of which purchases the goods and the other provides (sells) the goods;
20) state or municipal preferences means granting advantages to economic entities by the federal executive bodies, the authorities of the constituent territories of the Russian Federation, local self-government bodies, other agencies or organizations exercising the functions of those bodies, which put then in more advantageous conditions for economic activity, by transferring state of municipal property, other objects of civil rights or by providing property allowances; state or municipal guarantees;
21) economic concentration – is transactions, other actions, which fulfillment influences on the condition of competition
22) a person that is an object of economic concentration - a person, whose stocks (shares), assets, fixed production capital and (or) intangible assets are acquired or included in the authorized capital, and (or) a person, the rights towards whom are acquired according to the procedures established by Chapter 7 of this Federal Law;
23) consumer – a legal entity or a person purchasing a good.
Dominant position is recognized when position of an economic entity (a group) or several economic entities (groups of persons) in the market of certain commodity giving such economic entity (a group) or such economic entities (groups of persons) an opportunity to have a decisive impact on the general conditions of commodity circulation in the relevant goods market and (or) to remove other economic entities from this goods market and (or) to impede access to this goods market for the other economic entities. The position of an economic entity (except financial organizations) is recognized as dominant:
1) whose share in the certain goods market exceeds fifty per cent if only in the course of examination of the case of violation of the antimonopoly legislation or in the course of exercising state control over economic concentration it would be established that despite the excess of the aforementioned quantity position of the economic entity in the goods market is not dominant;
2) whose share in the certain goods market is less than fifty per cent in case the dominance of this economic entity was established by the antimonopoly body proceeding from stable or subjected to insignificant changes share of the economic entity in the market as compared to the shares of its competitors in this goods market, opportunities for access to this goods market of new competitors, or proceeding from other criteria characterizing goods market.
The position of an economic entity (except a financial organization) whose share in the certain goods market does not exceed thirty five per cent cannot be recognized as dominant, except the cases stated in Part 3 and 6 of this Article.
The position of an economic entity – legal entity, whose founder (member) is a single physical person (including one registered as sole proprietorship) or several physical persons, if the revenue of such an economic entity from sale of goods over the last calendar year does not exceed four hundred million rubles, cannot be recognized as dominant except:
1) an economic entity belonging to a group with another economic entity or other economic entities on the grounds provided for by Part 1 Article 9 of this Law. This exception is not applied to economic entities belonging to a group with another economic entity on the grounds provided by the seventh paragraph of Part 1 Article 9 of this Federal Law; to economic entities belonging to a group composed only of persons or entities belonging to the group on the grounds provided by the seventh paragraph of Part 1 Article 9 of this Federal Law; to an economic entity – sole proprietor;
2) a financial organization;
3) a natural monopoly entity on the commodity market that is under natural monopoly conditions;
4) an economic entity that has economic entities – legal entities as founders or members;
5) an economic entity authorized capital of which contains a share of the Russian Federation, share of a subject of the Russian Federation, share of a municipal division.
The position of an economic entity – sole proprietor not belonging to a group of another economic entity or other economic entities on the grounds provided by Part 1 Article 9 of this Federal Law if the revenue of such an economic entity from sale of goods over the last calendar year does not exceed four hundred million rubles, as well as the position of an economic entity – sole proprietor belonging to a group with another economic entity on the grounds provided by the seventh paragraph of Part 1 Article 9 of this Federal Law or belonging to a group with an economic entity or economic entities whose only member or members are one or several persons or entities belonging to the group on the grounds provided by the seventh paragraph of Part 1 Article 9 of this Federal Law on the condition that total revenue from sale of goods of such economic entities over the last calendar year does not exceed four hundred million rubles, cannot be recognized as dominant.
The position of each of several economic entities (except financial organizations) is recognized dominant if all of the conditions below apply to the entity:
1) the aggregate share of not more than three economic entities, share of each of these exceeds the shares of the other economic entities in this market, exceeds fifty per cent, or the aggregate share of not more than five economic entities, the share of each of these exceeds the shares of the other economic entities in the relevant goods market, exceeds seventy per cent (this provision is not applied if the share of at least one of the aforementioned economic entities is less than eight per cent);
2) during a long period (during not less than a year or in case this period is less than a year during the period of the relevant goods market existence) the relevant sizes of such economic entities' shares are stable or subjected to insignificant changes, as well as access of new competitors to the relevant goods market is impeded;
3) the commodity sold or purchased by economic entities cannot be substituted with another commodity in the process of consumption (including consumption for production purposes), growth of the commodity price does not condition corresponding to such growth reduction in demand for this commodity, information about the price, conditions of selling or purchasing of this commodity in the relevant goods market is available to indefinite group of persons.
An economic entity has the right to provide evidence before court or antimonopoly body that the position of this economic entity in the goods market cannot be recognized as dominant.
The position of an economic entity - subject of a natural monopoly in a goods market, which is in a state of natural monopoly, is recognized dominant.
6.1 Abrogated
6.2. Abrogated
The conditions for recognizing as dominant the position of a financial organization (excluding a credit organization) are established by the Government of the Russian Federation taking into consideration the restrictions provided for by this Federal Law. The conditions for recognizing as dominant the position of a credit organization are established by the Government of the Russian Federation in agreement with the Central Bank of the Russian Federation taking into consideration the restrictions provided for by this Federal Law. The conditions for
recognizing as dominant the position of a financial organization (excluding a credit organization) are established by the antimonopoly body in accordance with the procedure approved by the Government of the Russian Federation. The procedure of establishing the dominant position of a credit organization is approved by the Government of the Russian Federation in agreement with the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. The position of an business Partnership, whose share in the goods market of the Russian Federation does not exceed ten per cent in the single in the Russian Federation goods market or does not exceed twenty per cent in the goods market when the commodity circulating this market circulates as well in the other goods markets of the Russian Federation, cannot be recognized as dominant.
Analyzing the state of competition under Clause 3 Part 2 Article 23 of this Federal Law, the antimonopoly body shall assess the circumstances affecting the state of competition, in particular, the conditions of access to the goods market, the shares of economic entities on the market of particular goods, the ratio of shares of buyers and sellers of the goods, the period when there is a possibility to exercise decisive influence upon the general conditions of goods circulation on the goods market.
The time-frame for analyzing the state of competition is determined depending on the research purposes, specifics of the goods market and availability of information. The shortest period of analyzing the state of competition for the purposes of establishing dominant position of an economic entity shall be one year or the period of existence of the goods market if less than one year.
Monopolistically high price of the goods is the price fixed by an economic entity with dominant position, if this price exceeds the sum of the necessary production and distribution costs of the goods and profit, and exceeds the price formed under competitive conditions in the goods market, with comparable composition of goods buyers or sellers, conditions of goods circulation, market entry conditions, government regulation, including taxation and customs-and-tariffs regulation (further on referred to a comparable goods market), if such a market exists in the Russian Federation or abroad, including the price fixed:
1) by increasing an earlier fixed price of the goods, provided the following conditions are met in their totality:
а) expenses necessary for producing and distributing the goods have remained the same or their change does not match the price change;
b) the composition of goods buyers or sellers remains unchanged or changes were insignificant;
c) conditions of the goods circulation on the goods market, including those caused by government regulation, including taxation and tariff regulation, have remained the same or their changes are disproportionate to the price change;
2) by maintaining or not decreasing earlier fixed prices, provided the following conditions are met in their totality:
а) expenses necessary for producing and distributing the goods decreased considerably;
b) the composition of goods buyers or sellers brings about a possibility to reduce the price of the goods;
c) conditions of the goods circulation on the goods market, including those caused by government regulation, including taxation and tariff regulation, bring about a possibility to reduce the price of the goods.
If the conditions specified in Part 1 Article 13 of this Law are met, monopolistically high price shall not be recognized if the goods are the result of innovative activities: activities resulted in creating new goods that do not have substitutes, or new goods that have substitutes but productions costs are decreased and (or) the goods quality is improved.
The goods price is not monopolistically high is it is fixed by a natural monopoly within the rates for such goods determined in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
Monopolistically high price shall not be recognized if it does not exceed the price formed under competitive conditions in a comparable goods market.
Monopolistically high price shall not be recognized if fixed at the exchange, simultaneously complying with the following conditions:
1) the quantity of goods sold through the exchange, produced and (or) sold by an economic entity that has dominant position on the relevant goods market, shall be no less than the quantity set by the federal antimonopoly body and the federal executive body that regulates the field of activities, to which production of the relevant goods belongs;
2) deals are concluded by an economic entity, that has dominant position on the relevant goods market, in course of exchange trading, which meets the requirements determined by the federal antimonopoly body and the federal executive body that regulates the field of activities, to which production of the relevant goods belongs, in particular, the requirements for the minimum number of participants of exchange trading within a trading session;
3) an economic entity that has dominant position on the relevant goods market, accredited and (or) taking part in bidding (particularly, by filing the bids to a broker, brokers), shall submit a list of affiliated persons to the exchange according to the procedures specified by the federal antimonopoly body;
4) actions of an economic entity that has dominant position on the relevant goods market, and (or) its affiliated persons are not market manipulations;
5) an economic entity that has dominant position on the relevant goods market shall sell goods at the exchange regularly, with even distribution of the quantity of goods for trading sessions within a calendar month. The Government of the Russian Federation has the right to determine the criteria of regularity and evenness of selling goods at the exchange for certain goods markets;
6) an economic entity that has dominant position on the relevant goods market shall register off-exchange transactions for supplying goods, circulated on this goods market, in the cases and according to the procedures specified by the Government of the Russian Federation;
7) the minimum size of an exchange lot does not prevent entry to the relevant goods market;
8) an economic entity, that has dominant position on the relevant goods market, sells goods at an exchange that meets the requirements of the law of the Russian Federation on organized trading, including the requirements for confidentiality of information about the persons that filed the bids, particularly, by filing the bids to a broker, brokers.
Monopolistically high price shall not be recognized if it is set taking into consideration the specifics of developing a reserved price for the products that are sold through the exchange, approved by the antimonopoly body.
Monopolistically high price shall not be recognized if it does not exceed the price set at the exchange in compliance with Parts 5 and 6 of this Article, and whereupon economic (commercial) terms of a transaction are comparable on the quantity and (or) the volume of supplied goods, the deadline for honoring the obligations, payments conditions, typically applied to such kind of transactions, as well as other reasonable conditions that can affect the price.
Recognizing monopolistically high price of the goods under Part 1 of this Article, exchange and off-exchange price indicators on the global markets of similar goods shall be taken into consideration.
Monopolistically low price of the goods is the price fixed by an economic entity with dominant position, if this price is below the sum of the necessary production and distribution costs of the goods and profit, and is below the price formed under competitive conditions in the goods market, with comparable composition of goods buyers or sellers, conditions of goods circulation, market entry conditions, government regulation, including taxation and customs-and-tariffs regulation, if such a market exists in the Russian Federation or abroad, including the price fixed:
1) by reducing an earlier fixed price of the goods, provided the following conditions are met in their totality:
2) by maintaining or not increasing earlier fixed prices, provided the following conditions are met in their totality:
а) expenses necessary for producing and distributing the goods increased considerably;
b) the composition of goods buyers or sellers brings about a possibility to increase the price of the goods;
c) conditions of the goods circulation on the goods market, including those caused by government regulation, including taxation and tariff regulation, bring about a possibility to increase the goods price.
Monopolistically low price shall not be recognized if:
1) is fixed by a natural monopoly within the rates for such goods, determined in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation;
2) it is not below the price formed under competitive conditions in the comparable goods market;
3) price fixing by the goods seller has not resulted or could not have resulted in restricting competition due to fewer economic entities, not members of the same group with the goods buyers or sellers, operating in the comparable goods market.
Concerted actions of economic entities are actions of economic entities on a goods market that are exercised in the absence of an agreement and meet the totality of the following conditions:
3) actions of each of the above economic entities are caused by actions of other economic entities, participating in concerted actions, and are not due to the circumstances equally affecting all economic entities on the relevant goods market. Such circumstances, in particular, can be changing regulated tariffs, changing prices for the raw materials used to produce goods, changing prices for the goods on the global goods markets, considerable changing of the demand for the goods within no less than one year or within the period of existence of the relevant market if less than one year.
Exercising actions towards reaching an agreement by the persons specified in Part 1 of this Article is considered an agreement but not concerted actions.
A group is a totality of physical persons and (or) legal entities that meet one or several characteristics out of the following ones:
1) a business entity (partnership, economic partnership) and a physical person or a legal entity if such physical person or a legal entity has, due to participation in the business entity (partnership, economic partnership) or in accordance with the authority obtained, in particular, on the basis of a written agreement, from other persons, over 50% of the total number of votes falling within voting stocks (shares) of the charter (pooled) capital of the business entity (partnership, economic partnership);
2) a business entity and a physical person or a business entity exercising the functions of a sole executive body of such business entity;
3) a business entity (partnership, economic partnership) and physical person or a legal entity if such physical person or a legal entity can give binding instructions to the business entity (partnership, economic partnership) on the basis of the charter documents of the business entity (partnership, economic partnership) or a contract concluded with the business entity (partnership, economic partnership);
4) business entities, where the same physical persons form over 50% of the size of a collective executive body and (or) the Board of Directors (Supervisory Board, Board of a Fund);
5) a business entity (economic partnership) and a physical person or a legal entity, if the sole executive body of the business entity (economic partnership) is appointed or elected at the suggestion of the physical person or the legal entity;
6) a business entity and a physical person or a legal entity, if over 50% of the size of the collective executive body or the Board of Directors (Supervisory Board) of the business entity are elected at the suggestion of the physical person or the legal entity;
7) a physical person, his / her spouse, parents (including adoptive parents), children (including adopted ones), blood or non-blood brothers and sisters;
8) persons, each of whom are in a group with the same person under any of the characteristics specified in Clauses 1 - 7 of this Part, as well as other persons that are in a group with any of such persons under any of the characteristics specified in Clauses 1 - 7 of this Part;
9) a business entity (partnership, economic partnership), physical persons or legal persons, that are in a group under any of the characteristics specified in Clauses 1 - 8 of this Part, if such persons due to their joint participation in the business entity (partnership, economic partnership) or in accordance with the authority received from other persons, have over 50% of total number of votes falling within voting stocks (shares) of the charter (pooled) capital of the business entity (partnership, economic partnership).
Prohibitions of actions (omissions) of an economic entity on a goods market established by the antimonopoly authority apply to actions (omissions) of a group, unless otherwise established by the federal law.
Prohibition of unfair competition related to creation of confusion