FAS ENDS UP WITH LARGE-SCALE INSPECTIONS

The Antimonopoly Service is verifying information about a growth of prices, presented by members of the State Duma at a meeting with the Government on 9 April

Due to the changed economic situation, from March 2020 FAS switches over to daily monitoring of prices in retail chains and non-networked, local stores. From this week, hundreds of activists of the All-Russia People’s Front have joined in with the monitoring efforts. FAS also opened the hot line on food prices; information received on the hot line is verified on a mandatory basis.

FAS began anti-cartel inspections upon the data, obtained in the course of the monitoring, about increasing prices for a number of food products.

Stats-Secretary, Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Tsarikovsky commented on the FAS initiative: "Since Russia in general has a net surplus of grain and flour, and there are also enough other food products in warehouses, any upward deviation of product prices is a trigger for investigations".

FAS also prevents price collusions: warnings were issued to Executive Director of Rusprodsoyuz (the Association of Food Producers and Suppliers) and Vice-President of the Russian Fuel Union who publically appealed to increase prices.

"Such statements in the current difficult economic conditions equals to a call for economic sabotage and constitute a crime against consumers. Where there are no objective reasons to increase prices and there are elements of price collusions, antimonopoly cases will be opened against cartels", concluded Andrey Tsarikovsky.