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Rules on Retailer-Supplier Relationships in the Competition Policy of the Russian Federation: How and Why Misunderstanding Economics Threatens the Competitiveness of the Sector
The Law ‘On Trade’, adopted in the Russian Federation at the end of 2009, introduced a set of rules that regulate the terms of contracts between food suppliers and retail chains. The legal requirements are very different to any regulations employed in other countries (including the Grocery Supply Code of Practice ((“GSCOP”) in the United Kingdom) but, at the same time, they use many concepts developed by economics and expressed both in competition policy and antitrust legislation. The new rules are being actively enforced by the Russian competition agency and provide a significant impact on contracting practices in retailing. At the same time results of many surveys as well as expert estimates show that the proclaimed goal of the law—that is, the redistribution of surplus in the supplier-retailer relationship in favor of the supplier—has not been achieved.