Bakers asked to simplify the procedure for mergers in Russia

The National Baking Union (it includes the largest manufacturers of bakery products, including the Kolomensky Bakery and Confectionery Plant, Stoilenskaya Niva, the Sverdlovsk SMAK Bakery and Pasta Plant, and the Chelyabinsk First Khlebokombinat) asked to simplify the procedure for mergers in RUSSIA by increasing the threshold at which they must be coordinated with the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS). On March 22, a letter with a corresponding proposal was sent to First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov; RBC has a copy of the document. The fact that such a letter was sent was confirmed by the executive DIRECTOR of the union, Rustam Aidiev.

Now, according to the law "On Protection of Competition", companies must obtain the prior consent of the antimonopoly service for M&A transactions if the total value of their assets exceeds 7 billion rubles. or the total proceeds from the sale of goods for the year preceding the transaction - 10 billion rubles. The National Baking Union proposes to double the threshold - in terms of the total value of assets to 15 billion rubles, and in terms of turnover - up to 20 billion rubles. The Union also asks to increase from 800 million to 1.5 billion rubles. the threshold for the total value of assets on the last balance sheet of a person that is the object of economic concentration.

The government, as specified in its press service, the letter has already been received. Belousov's representative forwarded the question to the office of Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko, who is in charge of agriculture. They said that the initiative will be considered upon admission.

The FAS also promised to consider the proposal of the bakers “in the prescribed manner”. At the same time, the representative of the service recalled that at the end of February amendments had already come into force, which should reduce the administrative burden on small and medium-sized businesses: for them, the threshold value of the total value of assets for merger transactions, in which the entity falls under the antimonopoly law, has been increased from 400 million to 800 million rubles