FAS fined participants of aircraft procurement collusion in Chukotka

The total fines exceeded 68 million RUB.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) fined  “Chukotsnab” State Unitary Enterprise of the Chukotka Autonomous District 58 million RUB, “ChukotAVIA” State-Run enterprise of the Chukotka Autonomous District - 2.2 million RUB, “Vityaz” Air Corporation” Ltd. - 7.4 million RUB and “Chukotka-Leasing” Ltd. – 440,000 RUB for concluding an anticompetitive agreement with a government body.

In 2015 FAS found that the above companies and the Department of the Chukotka Autonomous District for Industrial Policy, Construction and Housing & Utilities Complex concluded an anticompetitive agreement organizing aircraft procurement by state-run companies in Chukotka (in breach of Article 16 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”).

The respondents devised and pursued a scheme of aircraft purchasing and reselling when the auction winner and the good supplier  were predetermined in advance, and the final aircraft procurement price increased by over than 300 million RUB.

Such actions are one of the obstacles for budget saving and should be suppressed”, pointed out Deputy Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department, Olga Franskevich.

“The anticompetitive agreement is one of the two large collusions exposed by FAS in Chukotka in 2015. Holding the violators administratively liable is a logical result of the meticulous efforts of the antimonopoly body aimed at increasing procurement transparency in such a hard-to-reach region of Russia”, explained the Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department, Andrey Tenishev.