Another case against a bid-rigging cartel for supplying medicines and medical products

FAS suspects that bidders of auctions for supplying medicines and medical productsfor the needs of health care institutions formed a cartel to maintain prices at 426 auctions organized in 5 subjects of the Russian Federation in 2015-2016.

Jointly taking part in auctions, “PHARM-PROEKT” Ltd. and “Vesta Pharm” Ltd. determined the winners in advance and, creating a veneer of competition, made sure that the initial maximum contract price reduced by no more than 2.5%.

Other respondents included Moscow health care entities: Vinogradov City Hospital, No. 68 Hospital, No. 67 Hospital. FAS suspects that they concluded an anticompetitive agreement with “PHARM-PROEKT” Ltd., resulted in maintaining auction prices.

Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department, Andrey Tenishev, presented his position: “FAS undertakescontinuous efforts to monitor public procurement of pharmaceutical products. Medical institutions should help expose and suppress violations of the antimonopoly law in this field. Instead, they collude with the violators. Our job is to hold violators liable and suppress such precedents”.