An effective and civilized system of price control will be established in Belarus, Minister of Trade Vladimir Koltovich announced on June 5 during the program "Glavny Efir" on the Belarus 1 TV channel, commenting on the establishment of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade, BelTA reports.
An effective and civilized system of price control will be established in Belarus, Minister of Trade Vladimir Koltovich announced on June 5 during the program "Glavny Efir" on the Belarus 1 TV channel, commenting on the establishment of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade, BelTA reports.
"We are obliged to create an effective, civilized system of price control," said Vladimir Koltovich.
According to him, the establishment of a unified, systemic, independent antimonopoly body in Belarus is intended to ensure the development and protection of competition, and the development of antimonopoly legislation. "But the key task was and remains the protection of the domestic market based on equal access for all its participants and on the basis of fair competition," noted the head of the department.
He also added that the ministry retains regulation and control in the sphere of public procurement (in the future, these functions of the regulator and controller should be separated), as well as regulation and control in the sphere of advertising and functions for the protection of consumer rights.
Informing about the new functions of the ministry, Vladimir Koltovich noted that the functions of the trade inspectorate have been expanded, in particular. "The trade inspectorate at the local level will be combined with antimonopoly services – this is new. That is, in the future, I see an expansion of its activities not only in terms of trade control but also in working with producers – with all market participants." Thus, a system for monitoring prices is being created not only in trade but also among producers. "Last week, we submitted a proposal to the Council of Ministers to expand the functions of this commission in order to consider unfair business entities that raise prices without justification," explained the head of the department.
Responding to a question about the presence of a full range of goods from all regions of the country in retail outlets, he acknowledged instances of localism, driven by administrative resources – directives from local authorities. "In this regard, the departments of antimonopoly services and trade inspectorates have been removed from the subordination of regional executive committees and the Minsk City Executive Committee. We will be closely monitoring the presence of the full range of products manufactured in the republic in all regional centers," said Vladimir Koltovich.
As previously reported by BELTA, a unified antimonopoly body – the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade – is being established on the basis of the Ministry of Trade of Belarus. The corresponding decree No. 188 "On Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Bodies" was signed on June 3.
The Department of Pricing Policy of the Ministry of Economy, as well as the departments of antimonopoly and pricing policy of regional executive committees and the Minsk City Executive Committee, are being transferred to the new ministry.
The new antimonopoly body has been entrusted with functions to counteract monopolistic activities and develop competition in the commodity markets of the republic, including the functions of a body for regulating the activities of natural monopoly entities, regulating prices and tariffs, controlling and regulating the consumer market, in the areas of public procurement, advertising activities, and consumer protection.
The key objective of the new ministry is to address the issue of protecting the domestic market of the republic by creating equal competitive conditions for all its participants.
The establishment of a unified, independent, centralized antimonopoly body system is necessitated by the need to protect fair competition and create civilized and effective tools for price control.