Meeting of OPORA RUSSIA with the participation of the head of the FAS

On May 15, a meeting of the boards of OPORA RUSSIA and NP OPORA was held with the participation of the head of the FAS Maxim Shaskolsky. The Russian Forest Association was represented at the meeting by its First Vice President Andrey Goncharov, who heads the OPORA RUSSIA Commission on the Forest Complex.

A wide range of topics were discussed: ensuring competition, access of small and medium-sized businesses to markets, procurement activities, tariff regulation, energy, interaction with natural monopolies.

Alexander Kalinin, President of OPORA RUSSIA and the Association NP OPORA: “This year marks 35 years since the beginning of antimonopoly regulation in Russia. During this time, the FAS has become an agency interested in creating a free and fair competitive environment, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. In this regard, a constructive and meaningful dialogue has been established between “OPORA RUSSIA” and the FAS. Every year, we hold joint meetings: such meetings allow us to systematically identify barriers that businesses face and eliminate them. By the end of 2024, almost all points of the protocol have been implemented “this is a real result of the work”.

The meeting was opened by Maxim Shaskolsky. He noted that by the end of 2024, the protocol of the previous meeting had been implemented by 95%. The implemented points include clarifications on the practice of unilaterally refusing energy supply contracts and continued development of the issue of extending antimonopoly regulation to intellectual property and means of individualization.

At the regional level, the interaction of “OPORA RUSSIA” with territorial departments of the FAS is carried out on the basis of Public Councils. In 69 regions, representatives of the business community participate in the work of the councils, in 12 cases they head them. Among the positive examples is active work in the Republic of Bashkortostan and the Penza Region.

Among the new proposals is the creation of a "Single Window" for analyzing prices for construction materials based on the GIS, as well as simplifying the technological connection to the power grid for entrepreneurs.

OPORA RUSSIA will continue to interact with the FAS in order to create a predictable business environment and make decisions taking into account the real needs of SMEs throughout the country.