Russia's Federal'naya Antimonopol'naya Sluzhba (Federal Antimonopoly Service, FAS Russia) has significantly intensified enforcement activity against businesses operating in the Russian market. Actions targeting market dominance abuse, cartel conduct, and merger notification failures have accelerated. International companies that remain active in Russia – or that hold residual contractual or structural ties – face elevated penalty exposure if compliance programmes are not reviewed immediately.
FAS Russia is the principal competition authority responsible for enforcing Russian competition legislation, including rules on cartel conduct, abuse of market dominance, and merger control thresholds. Penalties for substantiated violations include turnover-based fines that can reach a significant share of the company's annual Russian revenue. Businesses with active operations, supply agreements, or minority shareholdings in Russian entities are directly in scope and should assess their position without delay.
This alert summarises the key enforcement developments, identifies the business categories most at risk, and sets out immediate actions that international companies should take now.
What has changed: enforcement trends and the current penalty environment
FAS Russia has broadened the scope of enforcement across three distinct areas over the past year.
Cartel enforcement. The authority has expanded its investigation of cartel arrangements in procurement, distribution, and pricing. Coordinated bidding in public tenders remains the primary focus. However, FAS Russia has increasingly pursued information-exchange arrangements and hub-and-spoke structures as prohibited concerted practices under Russian competition legislation. Leniency programme applications – which can reduce or eliminate fines for the first disclosing cartel participant – have become a live tactical consideration for any company reviewing historic commercial arrangements.
Abuse of market dominance. Companies holding a dominant position. generally defined under Russian competition legislation as those controlling a substantial share of a relevant product market. face heightened scrutiny over pricing practices. Refusal-to-deal conduct, and discriminatory supply conditions. FAS Russia has published guidance signalling that dominance determinations will apply to digital platforms and data-driven markets. A finding of market dominance triggers a separate compliance obligation: dominant companies must not engage in conduct that restricts or eliminates competition, regardless of whether intent is proven.
Merger notification failures. Russian merger control rules require prior notification to FAS Russia when transaction thresholds are met. The authority has imposed fines on parties that completed deals without obtaining clearance. Post-closing notification – where permitted – does not cure the procedural violation. FAS Russia has also scrutinised foreign-to-foreign transactions where the target has Russian revenue or assets above the applicable thresholds.
Penalty levels under Russian competition legislation are calculated as a percentage of the company's turnover in the affected market. For the most serious cartel violations, fines can reach a substantial portion of annual market revenue. Repeat violations attract higher multipliers. Director-level criminal liability for cartel conduct has also been applied in a number of cases, separate from corporate fines.
For companies with competition law exposure in Russia, the combination of turnover-based fines, criminal referrals, and reputational consequences makes early compliance review essential.
Who is affected: threshold criteria and business categories at risk
The following categories of international business are most directly affected by current FAS Russia enforcement priorities.
- Distributors and suppliers operating under exclusive or selective distribution agreements in Russia, particularly where pricing or territory restrictions are embedded in contract terms.
- Companies participating in Russian public procurement, either directly or through local subsidiaries or agents – particularly where multiple group entities submit separate bids.
- Businesses with market dominance in any Russian product or geographic market, including digital platforms, pharmaceutical companies, and infrastructure-adjacent sectors.
- Acquirers completing cross-border transactions where the target generates revenue from Russian customers or holds Russian assets above merger notification thresholds.
- Minority shareholders in Russian joint ventures where the shareholder agreement grants veto rights or board representation that may qualify as a notifiable acquisition of control.
Companies that have wound down Russian operations but retain contractual relationships – licence agreements, supply contracts, or ongoing service arrangements – are not automatically outside the scope of Russian competition legislation. FAS Russia has jurisdiction over conduct that affects the Russian market, regardless of where the contracting parties are incorporated.
International companies facing parallel exposure to corporate disputes in Russia should note that competition findings can generate follow-on civil claims by counterparties or customers under Russian civil legislation.
For a tailored assessment of your company's competition law exposure in Russia, contact us at info@ferrazwhitmore.com.
What to do now: immediate actions for international companies
Given the current enforcement trajectory, the following actions should be prioritised within the next 30 to 60 days.
- Audit existing Russian contracts for pricing restrictions, exclusivity clauses, and information-sharing provisions that may constitute prohibited concerted practices under Russian competition legislation.
- Verify merger notification status for any transaction completed or pending where the target has Russian revenue or Russian-registered assets. If thresholds were met and notification was not filed, assess the risk of a late voluntary disclosure versus the risk of FAS Russia-initiated proceedings.
- Assess market share position in each Russian product market where the company is active. If dominance thresholds are met or approached, review pricing and supply conduct against the standards applied by FAS Russia in recent enforcement decisions.
- Review leniency programme eligibility if the company is aware of, or was party to, any historic price-fixing or bid-rigging arrangement involving Russian markets. First-in applications under the leniency programme can result in full immunity from fines.
- Document compliance steps taken contemporaneously. FAS Russia may treat the existence of an internal compliance programme as a mitigating factor when calculating penalties.
Companies that are also monitoring competition enforcement in neighbouring CIS jurisdictions should review our parallel alert on competition enforcement developments in Kazakhstan, where enforcement patterns follow a broadly similar trajectory.
About Ferraz & Whitmore
Ferraz & Whitmore is an international law firm based in Lisbon, advising business clients across 46 jurisdictions. Our competition law practice covers enforcement defence, merger control filings, leniency programme strategy, and dominance compliance across CIS and emerging markets. We work with multinational companies, institutional investors, and in-house legal teams who need results-oriented counsel when a competition authority opens an investigation or when a transaction triggers merger notification obligations. As a law firm advising on competition matters in Russia and across the CIS region, we bring both civil law expertise and cross-border regulatory experience to every engagement. Our team has advised clients before FAS Russia and equivalent authorities in neighbouring jurisdictions, and our Lisbon base provides direct access to EU competition law standards for cross-border benchmarking. To discuss your company's position under Russian competition legislation, contact us at info@ferrazwhitmore.com.
Disclaimer: This publication is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information herein should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional legal counsel tailored to your specific circumstances. Ferraz & Whitmore assumes no liability for actions taken or not taken based on the contents of this material. For advice regarding your particular situation, please contact info@ferrazwhitmore.com.