HEALTHCARE FACILITIES IN THE CULTURAL CAPITAL OF RUSSIA ARE UNDER A CARTEL ATTACK

Moscow OFAS caught auction bidders in a cartel

Moscow OFAS opened a case against “Zheldor –Service” Ltd. and “Cleanhouse” Ltd. upon signs of a cartel at 10 auctions in the electronic form. The companies took part in auctions organized by different medical treatment facilities in St Petersburg and the Leningrad region for the services of leasing and treatment of beddings, medical overalls and towels. The overall initial (maximum) contract price was 36.2 million RUB.

“Zheldor –Service” Ltd. and “Cleanhouse” Ltd. filed single or several price offers and then simply refused to compete with each other. Reduction of the initial (maximum) contract price was from 0.5% to 1.5%. Based on the auction outcomes, “Zheldor –Service” Ltd. signed 5 contracts at 14.8 million RUB, and “Cleanhouse” Ltd. also concluded 5 contracts at 21.2 million RUB.

Head of Moscow OFAS Armen Khanyan stated: “Healthcare is one of the most important areas for FAS control. Any procurement of medical equipment, tools and accessories is of special significance for high-quality and timely medical services rendered to the population. Each saved Ruble is essential here and frustrating contract execution is simply unacceptable. That is why FAS and the law enforcement bodies jointly pay special attention to countering cartels in this sphere”.

Anticompetitive agreements are punishable under Part 2 Article 14.32 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Violations”: administrative fines up to 50% of the initial contract value for legal entities and up to 50,000 RUB for top-executives.