OREANDA-NEWS. May 07, 2010. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) initiated a case against the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation for the signs of violating Article 15 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition", reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.          

The case was initiated upon coming into effect of No.17 Order of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture of 28th January "On the forms of documents for granting subsidies to compensate some of expenses for insurance of agricultural crops and perennial plantings and control over their effective use". This normative legal act equates the rates for calculating subsidies, approved by the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, to insurance rates applied by the insurers in agreements for state-supported insurance of agricultural crops and perennial plantings.

Applying blanket rates by insurers for the above insurance agreements can lead to eliminating price competition on the relevant market.

Therefore, the Order of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture has the signs of violating Article 15 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition": restricting competition on the market of services for state-supported insurance of agricultural crops and perennial plantings.

The case hearing is scheduled for 1st June 2010.

Reference:
Article 15 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" prohibits federal executive bodies to pass acts that lead or can lead to preventing, restricting or eliminating competition.