OREANDA-NEWS. December 08, 2009. FAS Russia initiated proceedings against the Moscow City Property Department, which failed to fix the preferential rate of rental charges - 1000 Rubles per square meter - for a small company, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

The case was initiated upon a petition from a small company - "Lodi" Ltd., claiming the the Department repeatedly refused to fix for it the preferential rate of rental charges established for small companies in Moscow.

The Department fixed the rate of rental charges for "Lodi" Ltd. at 7883.72 Rubles per square meter, which is nearly eight times higher than the statutory rate.

According to "Lodi" Ltd., the excessive rate of rental charges will force "Lodi" Ltd., being a small company, to declare bankruptcy because the rate of rental changes, which exceeds the statutory rate by nearly eight times, has put the company in a desperate financial position.

The Decree of the Moscow Government of 30th December 2008 "On Additional Measures of State Support for Organizations and Enterprises, Renting Non-Residential Property Owned by the City of Moscow, in the Period of Stabilizing the Financial System" fixed a preferential rate of rental charges for small and medium-size companies - at 1000 Rubles per square meter.

FAS Russia believes that failure of the Department to fix the preferential rate of rental charges for the company prevents the small exercising the rights of the small company for state support company and has signs if violating the antimonopoly legislation.