OREANDA-NEWS. August 25, 2011. The Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) in the Komi Republic (Komi OFAS Russia) found that “Vodokanal” OJSC (of Sosnogorsk) violated Part 1 Article 10 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

The case was initiated upon a petition from Sosnogorsk Gas Processing Plant (a branch of “Gazprom Pererabotka” Ltd.) that in November 2010 “Vodokanal” had refused to sign the Commissioning Act for the wastewater meter station at the Plant, although “Vodokanal” repeatedly inspected the meter station for a month and did not hold any demands regarding its performance. As a result, Vodokanal” calculated the amount of wastewater received from Sosnogorsk Gas Processing Plant according to the estimated capacity of its water treatment devices rather than by meter reading. According to the petitioner, it increased the bill in November 2010 by nearly six times.

Investigating the case, Komi OFAS Russia analysed the state of competition on the water supply and water drainage markets within “Sosnogorsk” Municipal District in 2010 and Q1 2011 and found that “Vodokanal” had the dominant position on the market. The Commission of the antimonopoly authority established that the company abused its market dominance and issued a determination to stop violating the antimonopoly law.

“In out opinion, unlawful refusal by the utility company to accept commissioning of the wastewater meter station infringed the interests of Sosnogorsk Gas Processing Plant, which is forbidden by the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”. OFAS issued a determination to “Vodokanal” to avoid unreasonable obstacles when accepting the meter stations. Also during а year, “Vodokanal” must submit to Komi OFAS Russia all documentation about commissioning such devices”, explained the Head of Komi OFAS Russia, Ms. Natalia Gurevskaya.