OREANDA-NEWS. July 15, 2009. The Sverdlovsk Regional Arbitration Court pronounced validity of the decision made by the Sverdlovsk Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (OFAS Russia) regarding "Repina 107" Housing Cooperative, reported the press-centre of FAS.

On 21st January 2009, the Sverdlovsk OFAS Russia found that "Repina 107" Housing Cooperative violated Clause 4 Part 1 Article 10 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" by preventing the flow of electric power to the power-receivers of Mrs Kazakova, without any economic or technological justification.

The Sverdlovsk OFAS Russia established that the owner of the premises was a sub-subscriber in the power supply contract signed between "Repina 107" Housing Cooperative and "Yekaterinburgenergosbyt" OJSC.

On 1st October 2008, a subscriber and the provider of last resort ("Yekaterinburgenergosbyt" OJSC) signed a separated power supply contract.

On 27th October 2008, "Repina 107" Housing Cooperative stopped supplying electric power to the subscriber's facilities without prior notification.

Having examined the case materials, the Sverdlovsk OFAS Russia discovered that according to the Rules for maintaining common property in apartment blocks, the in-house communications, including the power grid facilities, were in the common ownership of "Repina 107" Housing Cooperative.

The Law on Natural Monopolies classifies services for transmitting electric power as naturally monopolistic activities; therefore, "Repina 107" Housing Cooperative was providing power transmission services as a natural monopoly. Repina 107" Housing Cooperative is an economic entity that has dominant position on the relevant market.

The Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" prohibits actions of an economic entity that has dominant market position if such actions have resulted or can result in preventing, restricting or eliminating competition, including economically or technologically unjustified prevention of the power flow to consumer's power-receivers.

Under the Law "On Electric Power Industry", an owner of power grid facilities, (in this case, "Repina 107" Housing Cooperative) cannot prevent power transmission to the power receivers of Mrs Kazakova, or contracts with the provider of last resort for buying -and-selling electric power in relation to those power receivers.

The Rules for Non-Discriminatory Access to the Services of Electric Power Transmission specify that the proprietors and other owners and of electric grid facilities ("Repina 107" Housing Cooperative), through which a consumer's power-receiver is indirectly connected to the electric grid, cannot prevent the flow of electric power through their facilities and demand payment for it.

The Sverdlovsk OFAS Russia concluded that "Repina 107" Housing Cooperative unreasonably stopped supplying electric power to the facilities of Mrs Kazakova, which violated the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the Rules for Non-Discriminatory Access to the Services of Electric Power Transmission.