Competition policy

The government regulator [ˈregjəleitə] of market competition policy in Russia is the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) [mə’nɔp(ə)li]. Its primary objective is to ensure[inˈʃuə](гарантировать) compliance [kəm’plaiən (t),s](соблюдение) with antimonopoly regulations set out in Russian competition law.

The FAS has power to prevent(предупреждать) unfair(несправедлив) competition, state aid(гос помощь) or agreements that reduce competition, and abuse(злоупотребление) of a dominant position on the market.

Price controls

As a general rule, price controls exist only for natural monopolies, such as electricity [ˌelik’trisəti], gas and railways, where companies must set prices in accordance with state tariffs. However, if any company is seen as dominating a market, the FAS may regulate that company’s prices if it finds them too high or low.

Patents, trademarks and copyrights

Russia is a party to all major international agreements and conventions on intellectual property.

From 1 January 2008, Chapter IV of the Civil [ˈsiv(ə)l] Code of the Russian Federation came into force. Legal protection of a trademark is provided on the basis of its official(э’) registration or under international treaties(договоры) or conventions to which Russia is a party, including the Madrid Agreement.