OREANDA-NEWS. April 28, 2011. Moscow Arbitration Court confirmed validity of the decision and determination issued by the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) regarding the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

FAS found that the Ministry violated Part 1 Article 15 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”.

The grounds for initiating the case: petitions from software developers – “Grand” Centre” Ltd. and a non-commercial organisation – the Association of Construction Software Developers.

Investigating the case, the FAS Russia’s Commission concluded that the Ministry of Regional Development had recommended that organisations should use a specialised software package “Gosstroismeta-Expert”, selected as the basic package without organising a tender. FAS Commission classified such actions as a violation of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”.

The Ministry also failed to control the work of its subordinate agency - FGU FTsTSS, which was distributing authorising documentation (registration cards, certificates, etc.) and kept the register of software packages used for estimates. The agency disseminated wrong information about the status of documents. The Commission also found that omissions by the Ministry constituted antimonopoly violations.

The Ministry of Regional Development and FGU FTsTSS disagreed with the FAS Russia’s decision and determination and filed a lawsuit to Moscow Arbitration Court.

In January 2011, the Ministry of Regional Development and FGU FTsTSS approached FAS Russia trying to reach amicable settlement. However, after consultations and meetings the parties were not able to conclude the settlement.

“At the court hearing on 4th April legitimacy of the FAS Russia’s decision and determination was confirmed”, pointed out the Head of the FAS Department for Control over the Authorities, Vladimir Mishelovin.