Producers of explosives were caught participating in collision and fully admitted fault

On 27th November 2012, the 9th Arbitration Appeal Court approved an amicable settlement between the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia), “Sverdlov Works” Federal State-Run Enterprise and “Promsintez” OJSC. According to the settlement agreements, the companies fully admitted violating Clause 1 Part 1 Article 11 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”. The companies concluded an oral agreement that resulted in fixing prices for “Lebedinsky Mining-and-Processing Combined Works” OJSC. “Due to the specifics of government regulation of production and distribution of industrial explosives, this market has high risks of anticompetitive behavior of market participants. FAS pays special attention to compliance with the antimonopoly law in this field”, stated Deputy Head of FAS Department for Control over Industry and Defence Complex, Andrei Greshnyov. Reference: On 15th December 2011, FAS found that “Sverdlov Works” Federal State-Run Enterprise and “Promsintez” OJSC violated Clause 1 Part 1 Article 11 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”. The FAS Commission concluded that simultaneously fixing prices for industrial explosives was a consequence of collusion between “Sverdlov Works” Federal State-Run Enterprise and “Promsintez” OJSC that are competitive on the market in question. On 16th July 2012, Moscow Arbitration Court dismissed the claim of “Sverdlov Works” Federal State-Run Enterprise and “Promsintez” OJSC to abolish the FAS decision. Earlier, in 2010 FAS exposed collusion between several producers of industrial explosives, including also “Sverdlov Works” Federal State-Run Enterprise and “Promsintez” OJSC. The Courts of three instances confirmed validity of the FAS decision.