THE COURT UPHELD THE DECISION OF THE FAS IN RELATION TO REGIONAL OPERATOR OF THE ARKHANGELSK REGION

Regional operator of the Arkhangelsk Region deliberately restricted competition of economic entities, including SMEs, at auctions for the transportation of solid municipal waste

The Moscow Arbitration Court refused to appeal the decision and the order of the FAS Russia to Ecointegrator LLC. In accordance with the territorial scheme, the entire territory of the Arkhangelsk region is defined as the zone of activity of the organization. The Ecointegrator company, as a regional operator, was obliged to hold an auction to form prices for garbage collection and transportation services, and based on its results, conclude contracts with operators for the transportation of solid municipal waste (SMW) [1].

According to the Antimonopoly Service, the company conducted the necessary auctions, but included in the auction documentation unenforceable and unfavorable conditions for potential participants. In particular, it did not hold auctions, the participants of which could only be SMEs [2]. Ecointegrator also introduced into the draft contract the obligation of the counterparty to transport SMW without  information about waste accumulation sites in the tender documentation. At the same time, in case of non-fulfillment of such a condition, the transportation company was planned to be fined.

This led to the fact that no organization took part in four out of five electronic auctions, and the auction was declared invalid.

In October 2020, the FAS Russia recognized the company as having abused its dominant position, as well as violated the Law on Protection of Competition [4], and issued an order to Ecointegrator to stop the violation. The company complied with the order of the service, but tried to appeal it and the decision of the Antimonopoly Service in the court, but the Moscow Arbitration Court upheld the position of the Authority. 

Besides, according to the FAS Russia, violation of the bidding procedure could lead to an overestimation of the unified tariffs of the regional operator for the treatment of solid municipal waste.

In order to exclude violations of the established pricing procedure, the FAS Russia audited the Agency for Tariffs and Prices of the Arkhangelsk Region and issued an order according to which the maximum single tariff for the service of a regional operator in 2020 was reduced by 10% due to a revision of the component in terms of transportation of SMW.

For reference:

[1] item 3 of the Bidding Rules, based on the results of which prices for SMW transportation services for a regional operator are formed, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1133 of 03.11.2016;

[2] item 9 of the Bidding Rules, based on the results of which prices for SMW transportation services for a regional operator are formed, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1133 of 03.11.2016;

[3] item 13 of the Bidding Rules, based on the results of which prices for SMW transportation services for a regional operator are formed, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1133 of 03.11.2016;

[4] item 9 of part 1 of Article 10 of the Federal Law No. 135-FZ of 26.07.2006 “On Protection of Competition”