MINSK, 22 August (BelTA) – The Belarusian Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade (MART) and the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) have signed a memorandum on setting up a joint Belarus-Russia expert council on promotion of competition in socially important markets, BelTA learned from the MART website.
The memorandum was signed in Moscow by Belarus' Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Vladimir Koltovich and FAS Head Igor Artemyev.
The memorandum was signed in line with the Belarus-Russia intergovernmental cooperation agreement on protecting competition which was signed in Moscow on 27 February.
“High level of harmonization of legislation on competition ensures equal market conditions for economic entities of the two countries. However, market participants do not always comply with this legislation. The new memorandum aims to introduce a law enforcement practice for antimonopoly bodies of Belarus and Russia in order to stop distortions of competition regulations in our markets,” MART noted. “The main activities will include conducting inspections and investigations to prevent violations of the antimonopoly legislation and making decisions to close markets.”
Thus, the memorandum establishes the legal framework of cooperation between MART and FAS in applying the antimonopoly legislation to economic entities.
The joint expert council will also develop recommendations to improve the enforcement of the antimonopoly legislation of Belarus and Russia.
