APPEAL CONFIRMED LEGALITY OF THE DECISION AGAINST THE CARTEL IN KARACHAI-CHERKESSIA
The tenders for the construction of roads, buildings and facilities in the republic were held in violation of the antimonopoly law. Fines for companies exceeded 106 million rubles
It should be reminded that the FAS Russia found Chance Ltd, Investment and Construction Company Kubanskoye Ltd, Construction site for mechanization of construction Karachaevskoye Ltd, Yugelektromontazh Ltd and Invest Ltd guilty of concluding an oral agreement that led to the maintenance of prices at the auction1.
The total amount of competitive procedures carried out under the anti-competitive agreement is 5.6 billion rubles.
Also, the Karachay-Cherkessia republican state enterprise Directorate of Capital Construction was found guilty of violating the procedure for determining the winner of an electronic auction, which could lead to the inadmissibility, restriction or elimination of competition2.
The FAS Russia sent the case materials to law enforcement agencies for consideration of the issue of initiating criminal proceedings. The total amount of fines to companies amounted to more than 106 million rubles.
On October 19, 2020, the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal confirmed the legality of the decision of the antimonopoly authority.
“The decision of the appellate instance proves once again that we are on our way in the fight against the economic evil - cartels. The decartelization of the construction sector is one of our priorities, and it is enshrined in the National Competition Development Plan. Besides, state goals for the construction of high-quality roads and measures to improve road safety are laid down in one of the National Projects”, Andrey Tsarikovskiy, State Secretary - Deputy Head of the FAS Russia said.
“Multimillion fines for companies are not all they need to be ready for. The persistent violators, who are not afraid of the illegally obtained income on a large scale, will face criminal prosecution”, Andrey Tenishev, Head of the Anti-Cartel Department of the FAS Russia said.
1 Violation of the Paragraph 2 of the Part 1 of the Article 11 of the Law On Protection of Competition.
2 Violation of the Paragraph 3 of the Part 1 of the Article 17 of the Law On Protection of Competition.