DAGESTAN PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES DID NOT SUCCEED IN APPEALING FINES

Two participants of an anticompetitive agreement have to pay more than 96 m RUB

On 20 January 2020, Moscow Arbitration Court confirmed legitimacy and reasonableness of holding “Dagmedtechnika” Ltd. and “Medpharmsnab” Ltd. administratively liable for collusion with the customer.

On 15 January 2020, the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District supported FAS decision made in February 2019 regarding “Regionpharma” Ltd., “Globalmedtekh” Ltd., “Dagmedtechnika” Ltd., “Medpharmsnab” Ltd. The companies were found guilty of maintaining prices at auctions for supplying medicinal drugs and medical products for several medical facilities and the Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Dagestan in 2015 – 2018. The Court also supported the position that the cartel members, the Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Dagestan and Dagestan Republican Oncology Early Treatment Clinic are guilty of concluding an anticompetitive agreement between the customer and auction participants*.

FAS estimates that the total revenue gained by the cartel exceeded 2 billion RUB.

The guilty persons are punished by administrative fines in total amounting to 253 029 821.74 RUB.

Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department Andrey Tenishev emphasized: “The objective of holding administratively liable is to not only punish for committed unlawful actions but also to prevent further violations. The fines should become a sound signal for companies, deterring them from violating the antimonopoly law”.

Reference:

*Clause 1 Part 1 Article 17 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”.