This Resolution of 4 March 2021 is extremely important for the law enforcement practice, because it contains – for the first time during the last 13 years – clarifications on practically all aspects of antitrust laws which are binding upon courts. The clarifications take account of the approaches in the enforcement practice of the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) which have changed over the above considerable period of time. This gives hope for a higher quality of case law relating to antimonopoly disputes.

The fact that it took the Supreme Court years to prepare the adopted Resolution, during which it made multiple amendments to the draft (including with account for the opinion of the associations of practicing lawyers), proves its landmark nature. In particular, the contribution of the Association of Antitrust Experts to the Resolution was considerable. The Association’s dedicated special working group provided the Supreme Court with comments and proposals on the draft, many of which were included in the final wording.

The discussion also touched upon the current status of economic analysis in antimonopoly law enforcement and the issues of antimonopoly and arbitrazh proceedings.

Judges of the Constitutional Court and other Russian courts, recognised scholars, as well as major businesses and leading law firms participated in the event.