COURT CONFIRMED LEGITIMACY OF REDUCING TARIFFS FOR THE SOLID MUNICIPAL WASTE SERVICES

FAS issued an order to decrease the tariffs of “Specialized Motor Depot” by 30.75%

FAS inspected whether tariffs for solid municipal waste treatment in the Sverdlovsk region were justified.

Following the inspection, FAS found violations of the tariff law of the Russian Federation by the Regional Energy Commission of the Sverdlovsk region. The regional tariff regulator included overrates costs for transporting solid municipal waste, expenses on payment-and-information centres and administrative overheads in the tariffs on solid municipal waste treatment.

The Antimonopoly Service issued an order to the Regional Energy Commission of the Sverdlovsk region to decrease tariffs for the services of the regional operator – “Specialized Motor Depot”. The deadline was 1 June 2019.

Head of FAS Department for Regional Tariff Regulation, Yulia Yudina, pointed out: “Economically unjustified expenses for the regional operator of solid municipal waste treatment in the Sverdlovsk region - “Specialized Motor Depot” –reached 983 million RUB. FAS ordered to exclude unreasonable costs form the relevant tariff”.

The company disagreed with the FAS order and filed a lawsuit. On 25 September 2019, Moscow Arbitration Court dismissed the claim and pronounced legitimacy and reasonableness of FAS arguments.

Deputy Head of FAS Sergey Puzyrevsky stated: “The Court ruling confirms that the tariff decision was unlawful because the regulator overrated the tariffs on solid municipal waste treatment for “Specialized Motor Depot” in 2019”.