APPEAL SUPPORTED FAS IN THE CASE OF ORTHOPEDIC PRODUCTS CARTEL
Six companies set recommended prices and sanctions for non-compliance with them in order to maintain the highest possible cost of products sold. The authority imposed fines on companies in the amount of more than 31 million rubles
The 9th Arbitration Appeal Court of Moscow uphold the decision of the FAS Russia against Trives Trade LLC, Medexpert LLC, Optomed LLC, Maltri LLC, ORTHO LLC and Ecoten LLC.
It should be reminded that the Federal Antimonopoly Service found the organizations guilty of violating the Law on Protection of Competition* in the wholesale of orthopedic products.
The companies entered into an anti-competitive collusion to establish and maintain prices for products sold in wholesale at an optimally high level for each supplier. Trives Trade LLC, Medexpert LLC, Optomed LLC, Maltri LLC, ORTO LLC used an online automatic price monitoring service that allows these companies to track prices not only from their own customers, but also from companies purchasing similar goods from other suppliers, and to agree to apply “sanctions” to those retailers who sold products at prices below the recommended ones. If the recommended prices were not met, the online service automatically send emails to such “violating customers”.
The FAS Russia has sent the case materials to law enforcements for making a decision on initiating criminal cases against company officials.
* Paragraph 1 of the Part 1 of the Article 11 of the Law on Protection of Competition