Comparable Markets Method: Current Approaches of Law Enforcement Practice

The difficult foreign policy environment in which the Russian economy has to function, accompanied by a significant reduction in the number of market participants and rising costs of logistics chains, significantly increase the risks of abuse of dominant position on various markets, primarily through the application of unfair prices. The key procedural element of cases on establishment of monopoly prices is the application of the comparable markets method, which is the most objective measure of the reasonableness and market character of the applied prices. This article provides the most significant patterns of application by antimonopoly authorities of the comparable markets method and specific comparability criteria, summarises current trends and regulatory problems, and assesses the regulator’s current approaches in specific cases from the point of view of their legality, consistency and reasonableness. Among other things, the article describes possible approaches to assessing the legality of using quantitative comparability parameters (number of sellers and buyers, manufactured products, production facilities), geographical features of the market territory being tested, differences in legislative regulation of markets in Russia and abroad, as well as between Russian regions.