OREANDA-NEWS. September 20, 2011. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) held a meeting on devising the Rules for Non-Discriminatory Access to the market of apatite concentrate. The attendees included representatives of FAS, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, producers of apatite concentrate in the Russian Federation and consumers of apatite concentrate – Russian producers of compound mineral fertilizers, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

Participants discussed the main principles of non-discriminatory access to buying apatite concentrate. They discussed the issues of consumers announcing the necessary volumes of apatite concentrate and a just-price formula that would be acceptable for both producers and consumers.

The objective of the Rules is to protect competition and ensure proper regulation of the market of apatite concentrate within the geographic boundaries of the Russian Federation, and creating conditions for efficient market performance, in order to guarantee fair satisfaction of the needs of all consumers under the conditions of possible shortage and entry of new producers ot the market.

“Taking into account that most contracts for supplies of apatite concentrate expire on 31st December 2012, FAS must jointly with economic entities develop the mechanisms that would form the balance between demand and supply for apatite concentrate starting from 1st January 2013”, pointed out the Head of the FAS Department for Control over Chemical Industry and Agro-Industrial Complex, Teimuraz Kharitonashvili.

The draft Rules formalise the concepts of apatite concentrate, producers and consumers, determine the price formulae for selling concentrate on domestic market, specify the expected consumption of apatite concentrate by market participants until 2015 as well as provide for the procedure of exchanging apatite concentrate produced by different producers, which is necessary in order to secure production capacity of those consumers that can only use the apatite concentrate of a particular production for their own production purposes.

“The Rules do not concern relations between consumers and a particular producer of apatite concentrate. Rather the Rules are designed to regulate the market in general. In a short-term prospect, FAS believes that devising such rules and trading practices of large companies in various sectors of the economy (not only natural monopolies) is very important for developing competition and preventing violations of the law”, commented Deputy Head of FAS Russia Andrey Tsyganov.