Russia: Entry into force with grace period of Federal Law No. 301-FZ amending Law on the Protection of Competition including unilateral conduct regulation

On 10 July 2023, Federal Law No. 301-FZ amending Law on the Protection of Competition, previously Bill No. 160280-8, entered into force after it was signed and published in the official gazette. The Law applies to dominant entities that own a digital platform, determined by three thresholds: 1) Having revenue larger than RUB 2 billion during the last calendar year, 2) hosting more than 35% of all transactions in their market, and 3) having a significant impact on other related markets, which can be measured through network effects. Network effects are defined in the Law as the effect of a good or service becoming more valuable, with an increasing number of sellers and buyers, as this increases the number of transactions a business entity enables on its platform. Such entities would be prohibited from abusing their dominant position in the markets they are active. The Law amends the Federal Law on the Protection of Competition (No. 135-FZ) of 26 July 2006. The changes will be implemented on 1 September 2023.