OREANDA-NEWS. September 24, 2010. The Moscow Arbitration Court dismissed the claim of the Prefecture of the Northern Administrative District of Moscow and confirmed the rightness of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia), reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

On 31st May 2010, FAS Russia found that the Prefecture of the Northern Administrative District of Moscow violated the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” when it implemented a joint “programme” with “Vimm-Bill-Dann” OJSC for selling company products with a minimum mark-up for the groups of Moscow residents entitled to certain privileges.

The Prefecture violated the antimonopoly law by granting administrative support and preferences on the dairy products market to an individual company, which affected other participants of this market segment.

According to market participants, the agreement between the Prefecture and “Vimm-Bill-Dann” OJSC to implement the Programme violates the rules of fair competition, as a result of which they have incurred considerable losses due to reduced turnover. The Antimonopoly Service is also receiving complaints from local residents about sharp decline of sales of other dairy companies and reduced range of non-expensive dairy products.

Private businesses (food stores) involved in the campaign are also complaining about administrative pressure from the local authorities that force them to “operate at a loss or break even”.

FAS Russia established that the programme was initiated by the Prefecture of the Northern Administrative District of Moscow and, contrary to the existing rules, was not agreed upon with other Moscow authorities. Contractors were not selected through competitive bidding.

Having investigated the case, FAS Russia found that the Prefecture of the Northern Administrative District of Moscow and violated Article 15 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” (anticompetitive actions of the authorities), and also the Prefecture of the Northern Administrative District of Moscow and “Vimm-Bill-Dann” OJSC violated Article 16 the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” (anticompetitive agreements with the authorities).

Before the decision was made, “Vimm-Bill-Dann” OJSC had admitted violating the antimonopoly law and had stopped the violations, which was taken into consideration account when FAS Russia was making a decision on administrative charges for “Vimm-Bill-Dann” OJSC. On 9th September 2010 the company was relieved from administrative liability.