OREANDA-NEWS. July 06, 2009. The 19th Arbitration Appeal Court upheld the ruling of the Belgorod Regional Arbitration Court, which validated the decision and determination issued by the Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service in the Belgorod Region (OFAS Russia) regarding economic entities involved in retail sales of oil products in Stary Oskol.

Earlier the Belgorod OFAS Russia found that "Oskolneftesnab" OJSC and "Starooskolskaya Neftebaza" Ltd. violated Article 11 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" (prohibiting competition - restricting agreements or concerted actions between economic entities). The Commission of the antimonopoly body discovered that in the same period "Oskolneftesnab" OJSC and "Starooskolskaya Neftebaza" Ltd. fixed and maintained retail prices for oil products at service stations in Stary Oskol in a coordinated fashion without any objective reasons.

The Belgorod OFAS Russia issued determinations to the economic entities requesting them to stop the actions that were in breach of the antimonopoly legislation. OFAS Russia also fined the violators in total 6.5 million Rubles.

The economic entities disagreed with the decision and determination of the antimonopoly body and filed a lawsuit. The Courts of the First and Second Instances pronounced legitimacy of the decision of the Belgorod OFAS Russia and, therefore, confirmed the fact of concerted actions between "Oskolneftesnab" OJSC and "Starooskolskaya Neftebaza" Ltd.