The formation of market relations cannot be imagined without healthy competition. The latter ensures the improvement of the quality of products manufactured by various enterprises within the framework of one economic sphere. The struggle of companies for consumer loyalty helps to improve the lives of members of society.
The capture of any market niche by one enterprise is fraught with a drop in the quality of its products. The reason is that the consumer in this case does not have the opportunity to choose the best product, and is forced to purchase only what one company provided to meet his needs. In order to avoid the occurrence of such situations, the state assumes the responsibility to adopt relevant acts and programs, that is, to implement antitrust regulation. This term has various interpretations; the following wording will be used in this article.
Antitrust regulation is the activity of the state, aimed at establishing and implementing the rules of doing business, developing the market and protecting fair competition.
Most European countries began the transition to a market system after the bourgeois revolutions of the century before last. Antitrust regulation in this part of the continent arose as a response not only of the state, but also of society to the attempts of some companies to seize market niches in demand.
The development of private business as the economic core of society in most Western countries has a long history. Today, his support has not only a normative expression, but represents an entire institutional system. At the same time, it is completely legitimate, and businessmen use preferential programs of various insurance companies, commercial banks, regional guarantors, charitable associations and industry funds. All of these institutions are actively supporting developing businesses.
The Russian experience in the formation of market relations is associated with completely different assumptions. The period of the Soviet Union is characterized by the complete monopolization of the main economic sectors. The economy concentrated in the hands of the state ruled out the very possibility of market development. The sharp transition to capitalism at the end of the last century was a blow to the country's economic sectors. Antimonopoly regulation under these conditions for a long time remained nominal, not finding its expression in anything other than the norms of the same law.
Today, the level of market development is much higher than at the end of the 90s of the last century, however, as before, it is not satisfactory. The reason is that in Russia
natural monopolies occupy significant shares of the economy. In addition, the transition to capitalism in the absence of appropriate prerequisites and the time of its implementation did not affect the formation of small and medium-sized businesses in the best way.
Antitrust regulation is not capable of raising entrepreneurship, and the institutional base has not been formed for the development of the latter. Thus, the state is forced to tighten measures to prevent one enterprise from capturing a significant market share of a particular product. But a significant part of the funds spent on antitrust regulation of the economy could be used to support small and medium-sized business structures.