Belarus, Kazakhstan to cooperate in antimonopoly law enforcement
The Interstate Council meeting was chaired by Belarus' Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Minister Vladimir Koltovich on 26 September. The parties took stock of the Interstate Council activities in 2018, exchanged information on the most significant changes in the field of antimonopoly policy, considered the development of competition policy, including in the context of digital economy. The council also discussed the activities of the CIS board for joint investigations of antimonopoly law violations, the results of the 17th session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy held in Geneva in July 2018. During the meeting Belarus' MART and Kazakh National Economy Ministry signed a memorandum on cooperation in the field of competition policy.
During the Russian Competition Week the Belarusian and Russian antimonopoly authorities held a working meeting on bilateral cooperation. The parties agreed on specific arrangements for interaction between Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) and Belarus' MART.
Communication services (roaming) and pharmaceutical industry were identified as priority markets for joint investigation. The antimonopoly authorities approved the membership of the working groups, among whom are representatives of MART and Russian FAS. Besides, the parties reserve the right to involve the business community of the two countries for discussions on the problematic areas of these markets. The ministries decided to cooperate in studying the experience and exchanging analytical information on parallel import, tariff regulation of natural monopolies, housing and utility services.
The members of the CIS board for joint investigations of antimonopoly law violations heard a report by Natalya Vasilevskaya, deputy head of the social sector and services department at MART, on the investigation of the medical equipment markets in the CIS countries. The report included an analysis of the system of state regulation of the medical products markets in the CIS member states Russian Competition Week was held in Sochi 24-27 September. The event is held annually by Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), Kazinform has learnt from BelTA.