OREANDA-NEWS. January 27, 2014. The past 2013 became the first year when Resource-and-Training Centre of the Federal Antimonopoly Service in Kazan worked with maximum performance.

The main outcome and recognition of the Centre’s efforts was the decision to assign it the status of the Base organization of the CIS member-states for professional retraining and advancing qualification of staff in antimonopoly regulation and competition policy. The decision was made on 20th November 2013 by the Council of the Heads of CIS Governments.

In 2013, the work of the Centre was aimed at advancing qualification of the top executives, core workers of the Federal Antimonopoly Service and its regional Offices, representatives of core workers, as well as at exchanging activities and establishing a dialogue with representatives of foreign competition authorities.

The first trainees that were awarded certificates on advancing qualification at the Centre were the staff members of FAS regional Offices. Under the training course on “Legal, Documentary and Psychological Support of Personnel Work”, associate professors and professors of Kazan (Privolzhie) Federal University, Kazan National Research Technological University and Russian Academy of Justice, specialists of the Main Archive Department at the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan, representatives of the Central FAS Office shared their experience and knowledge on a wide range of issues – from the fundamental principles of civil and labour law to changes in the law on pensions and preventing violations in public service.

15 heads of FAS regional Offices attended a qualification advancing programme on “Modern Management in Public Administration” to enhance their professional level, expertise, knowledge and skills. The main themes were improving personnel policy, conflict management, implementing modern information technologies in management, budget planning, and time management. An expert of the Commission at the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan for “Yulia Safina Quality Award” presented a brief course on innovative quality management models. The Head of a TV laboratory at the Institute of Mass Communications, Kazan (Privolzhie) Federal University, Viktor Yegorov, gave master-classes on the art of public speaking.

Professors and lecturers of the leading universities of the Republic of Tatarstan and experts of the Department for Control over Housing & Utilities, Construction and Natural Resources of the Central FAS Office taught a module on the “Pressing Issues of Antimonopoly Law in Housing and Utilities Sector” under a qualification advancing programme on the “Theory of Competition Law and Antimonopoly Regulation Practice” for more than 80 officers of FAS regional Offices. Trainees also discussed such aspects of work as regulating relations for granting rights for state and municipal property in the housing and utilities sectors, connecting to heat- and water-supply systems, liability of holders of natural monopolies for violations in the field of connecting capital construction facilities to utility networks, using a new institution - warnings. Under the framework of the same educational programme, a course of lectures was offered on “Developing Competition on the Markets of Electric Power Industry”. The course highlighted such issues as experience of procedural-and-institutional development in the electric power industry in Russia and in the world, legal framework of market systems and their interrelation, the global experience of regulating prices in the electric power industry, antimonopoly regulation and control on the wholesale and retail markets of electric power industry, as well as the existing investment programmes and the prospects for developing competition on electric power markets in Russia and across the globe.

An expert of the National Research Institute of Certification, Elena Popkova, and representatives of specialized Departments of the Central FAS Office gave lectures at a workshop on “Increasing Personnel Competence in Quality Management”. Workshop participants discussed issues of devising and implementing quality management systems in accordance with ISO 9000 international standards: improving the system of public administration, specifics of applying international standards in provision of public services, audit programme management, audit methods and the procedures for presenting audit results, specifics of the process approach in organizing audit of the authorities.

Due to changes in the law on public procurement, the Centre provided training under the Programme on the “Federal Contract System in State and Municipal Procurement of Goods, Works, and Services”, to over 180 experts of FAS regional Offices, who were able to advance their qualification in the field. Deputy General Director of Public Procurement Agency of the Republic of Tatarstan, Vladimir Aksenov, an associate professor Elena Kovalkova (Dr. of Law), a representative of the Arbitration Court of the Republic of Tatarstan, Roman Shkalikov, discussed with the trainees a new system and possible problems related to the scope, legislative framework and the key principles of building up the Federal Contract System, informational support and public control over the Federal Contract System, as well as the powers of the executive bodies and local self-government bodies within the Federal Contract System, the pricing methods, etc. Experts of the Department for Control over Public Procurement, at the Central FAS Office also took part in the Programme.

The most part of the work of the Centre was oriented towards training the candidate pool of the Antimonopoly Service. For instance, the course on the “Modern Management in Public Administration” helped them obtain and deepen knowledge about innovative models of quality management, specifics of public management, managing the risks of large systems, as well as modern state personnel policy and specifics of implementing effective technologies of personnel work.

FAS Resource-and-Training Centre is also a platform for exchanging experience and establishing a dialogue with representatives of foreign competition authorities. For example, a workshop organized jointly by FAS and OECD Regional Competition Centre in Hungary on “Developing Competition on the Market of Electric Power Industry” brought together over 40 participants – the heads and experts of antimonopoly authorities of Hungary, Holland, Belgium, Finland and the CIS member-states, representatives of the Central Office and FAS regional Offices. The workshop allowed discussing a wide range of issues on regulation of the market of electric power industry, its distribution and retail sale, including market definition, vertical integration, control over mergers and acquisitions, practice of abusing and latent collusions, pricing, and measures against violating competitive conditions. The workshop on “Cartel Investigation. International Cooperation” provided an opportunity for representatives of foreign competition authorities (Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Korea, the Czech Republic and Ecuador, as well as officers of the antimonopoly authorities of the members of the Customs Union: Belarus, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan) to take part in an annual training. The main themes of discussion were the modern state of competition at the international level, experience of foreign competition authorities in cartel exposure, studying and proving international collusions. Participants discussed a new level of cooperation, experience of investigations and the practice of inspections against cartels in Russia, as well as use of technical means and software tools.

Reference:

1. License for educational activities is granted to FAS Resource-and-Training Centre by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan.

2. The work results in figures: as part of executing the government assignment in 2013 FAS educated 450 experts of the antimonopoly authority on the basis of the Resource-and-Training Centre in Kazan. FAS organized 14 events for the members of staff of the Central Office and FAS regional Offices 14 on the main areas of work, including: 5 workshops for 257 officers; and 9 advanced qualification courses for 450 officers. 2 international workshops were organized successfully.

3. In 2014, as part of executing the government assignment, the Training Centre plans to educate 450 public servants of the Federal Antimonopoly Service. The Action Plan is already prepared.