UNFOUNDED ASSERTIONS ABOUT SHORTAGE OF FLOUR ARE LIABLE TO PUNISHMENT
FAS opened an administrative case against the Russian Union of Milling and Cereals Companies
Earlier, FAS issued a warning to President of the Russian Union of Milling and Cereals Companies due to his unreasonable public statements about forthcoming shortage of flour.
Following the instructions from the President of the Russian Federation, the Federal Antimonopoly Service, jointly with the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation carries out daily monitoring of prices in the course of the pandemic, enabling to promptly react to price deviations for socially important goods from the market level and undertake the necessary remedies.
As part of the monitoring, FAS made an enquiry to the Russian Union of Milling and Cereals Companies, requesting to submit documents corroborating the statements of the Union President in mass media that agricultural producers refuse to supply grain to milling enterprises or tend to fix super high grain prices on the domestic market.
The response of the Russian Union of Milling and Cereals Companies signed by the Union President did not include information and corroborating documents requested by FAS, which, in its turn, prevents FAS from fulfilling its powers to control pricing on the consumer markets in the part whether the fixed prices are justified.
The antimonopoly authority opened an administrative case against the Russian Union of Milling and Cereals Companies upon the fact of the failure to submit information to the antimonopoly body, which is punishable with administrative fines up to 500,000 RUB.
Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department, Andrey Tenishev pointed out: “Failure to provide the requested information clearly demonstrates that the Russian Union of Milling and Cereals Companies cannot substantiate its unfounded statements”.
He summed up that “the main problems today is exactly such, totally not corroborated messages that are disseminated in mass media and result in feverish demand for goods”.