ST.-PETERSBURG, May 18 - RAPSI, Sergei Feklyunin. The Federal Antimonopoly Service is planning in 2012 to start requesting courts to disqualify public servants who have broken antitrust laws, the service's head Igor Artemyev said on Friday.

"This year we will try to file our disqualification requests with courts not only for managers, but also for public servants," said Artemyev at a round table discussion during the Second St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.

He also added that the state puts good antitrust laws together and provides many opportunities and powers to protect business rights, however there is "a large group of public servants who act as official corporate envoys in government authorities, serving the benefit of certain companies."

While companies are subject to huge fines which force them to change their conduct, officials may be fined a maximum of only 50,000 rubles ($1,615). Artemyev said that a newly adopted legal provision makes it possible to disqualify public servants by court decision.