OREANDA-NEWS. April 22, 2013. The draft Federal Law “On Introducing Amendments to Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Some Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation” was introduced to the State Duma. The draft law is devised by the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) and approved by the Government of the Russian Federation.

The amendments detail Part 1 Article 178 of the Criminal Code on preventing, restricting or eliminating competition by concluding competition-restricting agreements, repeatedly abusing market dominance.

Clause 3 of the Notes to Article 178 of the Criminal Code clarifies the criteria and conditions of criminal leniency for the persons who committed the crimes, specified in Article 178.

The draft Law also makes changes to the Federal Law “On Investigative Operations”, determining the procedures for FAS using the results of investigative operations for the purposes of cartel investigations.

Amendments to Article 23 the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” specify FAS powers for forwarding materials to the law enforcement bodies to initiate criminal cases.

Upon instructions given by the Chairman of the RF Government Dmitry Medvedev he Head of FAS Igor Artemiev became the official representative of the Government of the Russian Federation for consideration of the amendments by the both Chambers of the Parliament.

“We hope the legislators will review the proposals early. The amendments coming into force will enable the antimonopoly authority and law enforcement bodies to intensify their joint efforts towards suppressing violations of the antimonopoly law”, commented the Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department, Alexander Kinev.