OREANDA-NEWS. January 29, 2010. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) found that "Plastic" OJSC violated Clause 1 Part 1 Article 10 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" (abusing market dominance), reported the press-centre FAS Russia.

The case was initiated upon a petition "ROSVERTOL" OJSC and "SEVMASH" Production Association" OJSC. According to the petitioners, from January 2009 года the price for foam plastic, grade PS-1, increased by a factor of 1.7 in comparison with last year.

Investigating the case, FAS Russia discovered that growth of prices for foam plastic PS-1-100 were caused by increased prices for emulsion-polymerized polystyrene PSE-1, which accounts for a considerable share in production of foam plastic.

"Plastic" OJSC has production capacities for polystyrene of general use. The company produces polystyrene by providing services for processing give-and-take raw materials, and then sells the finished products.

"SIBUR Holding" OJSC, which is a member of the same group of persons with "Plastic" OJSC, supplied raw materials for processing to "Plastic" OJSC.

An analysis of the cost structure of production of emulsion-polymerized polystyrene showed that overall increase of the costs of distribution of the product did not match the growth of prices fixed by "Plastic" OJSC.

Under Part 1 Article 6 of No.135-FZ Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" of 26th July 2006, monopolistically high price (except financial services) is a price fixed by an economic entity with market dominance, if this price exceeds the sum of the necessary costs for production and sale of the product plus profit and that exceeds the price that would apply in competitive conditions on a market that is comparable in terms of the composition of buyers or sellers, conditions for the circulation of the goods, access to the market, and state regulation, including taxation and customs regulation (a comparable market), if such a market exists within or outside the Russian Federation.

Under Article 14.31 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Violations, for abusing market dominance FAS Russia will impose an administrative fine upon "Plastic" OJSC from 1 to 15% of the total proceeds gained by the violator from selling goods on the market where the violations was committed.

As part of the case, FAS Russia did not discover violations of the antimonopoly law by "SIBUR Holding" OJSC and terminated the proceedings against "SIBUR Holding" OJSC.