PARTICULAR ANTIMONOPOLY MARKET OF FUNERAL SERVICES

R.Y. Grachev

MoscowAcademy of Economics And Law
23, Varshavskoe sh., Moscow, 117105
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The article notes that during the Soviet period, the scope of the ritual service has a high degree of state monopoly. The elimination of competition and private initiative did not encourage the development of this sector of public services. The monopoly of the state led to the fact that in every town there was only one municipal enterprise providing funeral services to the population and low levels of service quality.

The system continues to function nowadays, gradually and systematically transforming and passing in charge of local authorities, while maintaining overall control of the federal government.

In the 90s in connection with the transition to the market economy, the situation in the sphere of ritual service changed for the better. However, this analysis gives law enforcement reason to conclude that the growth of competition in the funeral services has resulted in numerous violations of antitrust laws relating to abuse of dominant position by municipal companies specialized on a funeral service business.

In order to improve the existing legislation to address them , a number of scientific and practical recommendations has been formulated: a) the need for a legal separation of functions on the content, operation and improvement of cemeteries at the expense of the budgets (the choice of the performer - on the procedure for allocation of state and municipal orders), and b) the adoption of local government standard-setting instrument on the basis of public cemeteries, which must be determined by the cemetery operation and allocation of land for burial, on the order of providing citizens with guaranteed free places in the cemetery, and c) approval of a minimum level of service and the availability of information and advertising to consumers, and d) on the activities of burial on a commercial basis, which should be in equal competition with other business entities participating in this market, and e) the conclusion of contracts for the provision of municipal services for maintaining cemeteries.

It is concluded that implementation of these scientific and practical recommendations can limit the monopolization of the market of ritual services and ensure fair competition and that undoubtedly will have a beneficial effect on the quality of the ritual service.

Keywords: the market of funeral services; fair competition; antimonopoly regulations

Bibliograficheskij spisok

1. Analiticheskij otchet po analizu rynka pohoronnyh uslug (v razreze municipal'nyh rajonov i gorodskih okrugov): [ofic. sajt Feder. antimonopol'noj sluzhby]. URL: http://www.fas.gov.ru/analytical-materials/analytical-materials_30400.html (data obrawenija: 02.07.2011).

2. Eljutina M.Je., Filippova S.V. Ritual'nye pohoronnye praktiki: soderzhatel'nye izmenenija // Sociol. issledovanija. 2010. №9. S. 86–94.

3. Zul'fugarzade T.Je. Osnovy pravovogo regulirovanija pohoronnogo dela v Rossii: ucheb. –prakt. posobie. M., 2008. 418 s.

4. O garantijah prav grazhdan na predostavlenii uslug po pogrebeniju umershih: ukaz Prezidenta Ros. Federacii ot 29 ijunja 1996 g. №101 // Sobr. zakonodatel'stva Ros. Federacii. 1996. №27, st. 3235.

5. O zawite konkurencii: Feder. zakon ot 26 ijulja 2006 g. №135-FZ // Sobr. zakonodatel'stva Ros. Federacii. 2006. №31 (1 ch.), st. 3434.

6. O kladbiwah i pohoronah: dekret Soveta narodnyh komissarov RSFSR ot 7 dek. 1918 g. // Izvestija. 1919. 11 dek.

7. O licenzirovanii otdel'nyh vidov dejatel'nosti: Feder. zakon ot 8 avg. 2001 g. №128-FZ // Sobr. zakonodatel'stva Ros. Federacii. 2001. №33 (ch. I), st. 3430.

8. O pogrebenii i pohoronnom dele: Feder. zakon ot 12 janv. 1996 №8-FZ (red. ot 21.11.2011) // Sobr. zakonodatel'stva Ros. Federacii. 1996. №3, st. 146.

9. O razmewenii zakazov na postavki tovarov, vypolnenie rabot, okazanie uslug dlja gosudarstvennyh i municipal'nyh nuzhd: Feder. zakon Ros. Federacii ot 21 ijulja 2005 g. №94-FZ // Sobr. zakonodatel'stva Ros. Federacii. 2005. №30 (ch. 1), st. 3105.

10. Ob utverzhdenii Polozhenija o porjadke licenzirovanija dejatel'nosti po okazaniju ritual'nyh uslug: postanovlenie Pravitel'stva Ros. Federacii ot 26 dek. 1995 g. №1272 // Sobr. zakonodatel'stva Ros. Federacii. 1996. №1, st. 53.

11. Postanovlenie Prezidiuma Vysshego arbitrazhnogo suda Rossijskoj Federacii ot 23 sentjabrja 2008 g. №12027/07 po delu №A33-9227/2006. Dokument opublikovan ne byl. Dostup iz sprav.-pravovoj sistemy «Konsul'tantPljus».