The Russian State Duma has approved in the first reading draft amendments to the law «On Protection of Competition» on the gradual decoupling of prices for goods on the domestic market from global indicators. So far, it is only about the possibility of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) not to take them into account when determining the monopolistically high and low price of goods, writes «Kommersant».
It is noted that the bill faced criticism from deputies because of the risks of widespread application of the norms and even overpricing in the domestic market. Experts recognize the risks due to the low level of competition in the domestic market, but note that the FAS will have the same tools and the ability to reconcile with world prices.
The bill, which was prepared by Senators Vyacheslav Timchenko and Alexander Savin, allows to link the prices of goods in Russia from exchange and over-the-counter price indicators of the world commodity markets of foreign agencies.
The FAS supports the project, as «it corresponds to the service’s roadmap for the development of commodity exchange trading». The document excludes from the concept of monopolistically high and low prices of goods the comparison with prices on foreign markets, and FAS will not be obliged to take into account foreign exchange and OTC indicators.