ARBITRATION COURT SUPPORTED A DECISION ON A CARTEL ON THE MARKET OF CONCRETE SHIPMENT

On 2 October 2018, Nizhny Novgorod Regional Arbitration Court confirmed legitimacy and reasonableness of recognizing 11 economic entities as violators of Clause 1 Part 1 Article 11 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”

The case was opened upon a complaint against companies that approved a single price-list for the services of concrete conveying and shipment. The complaint had an enclosed letter signed by representatives of organizations, according to which the undersigned fixed the same prices for the services of concrete mixer trucks and concrete pimp trucks. According to the claimant, this circumstance indicated that the economic entities had concluded an anticompetitive agreement.

Businessmen explained mailing the same price-list, certified with signatures and seals, by increased prices for fuel, spare parts and increased payments under the “Platon” system. They claimed that the price-list is only an offer for counteragents, who are they themselves, explaining the market participants fix roughly similar prices not simultaneously but in several-month intervals depending on the fluctuations costs of current expenses.

Nizhny Novgorod OFAS, however, found that“Evrobeton” Ltd., “Spetslogistic” Ltd., “Monolitstroi” Production-and-Commercial Firm” Ltd., “Spetstechstroi” Ltd., “Nizhny Novgorod Concrete” Trading House” Ltd., “Prombeton NN” Ltd., “Stroiformat” Ltd., “Tserera S” Ltd., “Transservice NN” Ltd., “Trans-Beton” Ltd., and an individual entrepreneur M. Solodovnikova violated Clause 1 Part 1 Article 11 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”.

Nizhny Novgorod Regional Arbitration Courtdismissed the claim of “Evrobeton” Ltd., “Stroiformat” Ltd., “Tserera S” Ltd., “Transservice NN” Ltd. to invalidate the decision on the antimonopoly case.