OREANDA-NEWS. August 12, 2010. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) fined "the "Main Centre of Special Communications" Federal State Unitary Enterprise 37,347,387.00 Rubles under Article 14.31 of the Code on Administrative Violations for abusing market dominance, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

On 28th September 2009, FAS Russia found that the "Main Centre of Special Communications" ("GTsSS") violated Part 1 Article 10 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" by fixing monopolistically high price for the services of delivering mail, containing information classified as state secrets, in the Russian Federation, as well as imposing disadvantageous contract conditions irrelevant to the subject of the contracts for delivering mail, containing information classified as state secrets, in St Petersburg and the Leningrad region.

FAS Russia concluded that from 20th October 2008 "GTsSS" had introduced monopolistically high price for the above services. In comparison with 2008 prices increased by 300-500% (for the first tariff zone prices increased from 122 to 540 Rubles for a single parcel weighted under 1 kg.), with was out of proportion to the costs increase experienced by "GTsSS".

"GTsSS" services for delivering mail containing information classified as state secrets are used by the actors entitled to work with documents and data classified as state secrets, in particular, the authorities of the Russian Federation, defence and law enforcement agencies, and defence enterprises financed from the budgets of different levels. "Single increase of their rates by up to 500% not only infringed the interests of consumers but required considerable expansion of government funding, which in the end is adversely affecting inflationary processes in Russia", pointed out Dmitry Routenberg, the Head of the FAS Department for Control over Transport and Communications.