ROSTOV OFAS PREVENTED PHARMACEUTICAL CARTEL WITH AN INCOME OF MORE THAN 120 MILLION RUB

Illegal income of Danta LLC and Company Organika LLC was obtained by colluding at 48 auctions for the supply of medicines

Rostov OFAS found that auctions where Danta LLC and Company Organika LLC participated in were held for the supply of medicines to public health institutions in the Southern Federal district.

As a result of the collusion[1], the companies signed contracts at 48 auctions with a minimum reduction in the initial price for a total amount of more than 120 million rubles.

It should be noted that the Rostov OFAS detected collusion between two companies during proactive monitoring of electronic trading. In the context of countering the spread of coronavirus infection, the proactive method of detecting cartels has proven effectiveness: it allows employees of antimonopoly authorities to obtain the necessary set of evidence of collusion remotely.

“Rostov OFAS has initiated a procedure to bring the collusion of companies to administrative responsibility under part 2 article 14.32 of the Administrative Code, which establishes the penalty for such anticompetitive behavior,” said Natalia Kozhemyako, Deputy Head – Head of the Anti-Cartel Division of the Rostov OFAS.

“The healthcare sector is still one of the most cartelized in the territory of our country. Additional budget funds that the state allocates to provide patients with the necessary medicines are actually “eaten” by anti-competitive agreements, said Andrey Tenishev, Head of the Anti-Cartel Department of the FAS Russia. In order to prevent such illegal activities and the possibility of recurrences, the Antimonopoly Authority appoints significant fines to violators and transmits materials to law enforcement agencies for making a decision on initiating criminal proceedings against unfair business.”

[1] in violation of the Paragraph 2 of the Part 1 of the Article 11 of the Law on Protection of Competition