Of Counsel and the Head of Antitrust practice Irina Akimova moderated the session “Practice of applying antitrust legislation: case study” within the 4th regional scientific and practical conference “Vital issues of applying antitrust legislation: opinion of the regulator, business and experts,” which this time was held in Ekaterinburg. The conference organizers were the Antitrust Experts Association jointly with the Russian Federal Antitrust Service (FAS) and Ural State University of Economics.

The Association members, heads and employees of the FAS territorial bodies for the Ural Federal Circuit, as well as Central Office of the FAS, among which there were Sergey Puzyrevsky, Artem Molchanov and Ekaterina Nabatova, took part in the event. Furthermore, representatives of the judicial community and executive bodies of the Sverdlovsk Region, leading scientists and faculty of Russian higher education institutions specializing in studying and teaching courses on competition law, practicing associates and economists in antitrust regulation, representatives of some of the largest associations of entrepreneurs and companies doing business, among other places, on the territory of the Ural Federal Circuit, spoke at the conference.

On April 21, 2017, within the frameworks of the conference topical issues of the antitrust and tariff policy in Russia, peculiarities of antitrust regulation in industry, considering the status of the Ural Region being the largest industry center of Russia, and the practice of applying the law on state procurements were discussed. Special attention was given to the results of implementing the 4th antitrust package and new legislative initiatives of the FAS.

A separate session of the conference moderated by Irina Akimova was devoted to analysis of the practice of applying the antitrust law based on actual cases. Within the session, cases on abusing a dominant position in industry, practice of investigating anticompetitive agreements and concerted actions and trends in cartel investigation within the frameworks of state procurements were examined.

“Practice-oriented content, excellent speakers, interest in the conference of the scientific and business communities – all this allowed to hold the 4th regional conference in Ekaterinburg at the highest level,” says Head of Antitrust Practice Irina Akimova. “I am convinced that the dialog that took place will contribute to further enhancement of the antitrust and tariff regulation, as well as development of pro-competitive practices,” Irina adds.

The Antitrust Experts Association’s materials are used in the article.