OREANDA-NEWS. September 23, 2013. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) found that “Vyazemsky Machine-Building Plant” OJSC (“VMZ” OJSC) and its 29 dealers violated the antimonopoly law by concluding prohibited “vertical” agreements. The case was terminated due to voluntary elimination of the violations.

The FAS Commission concluded that in 2010-2012 “VMZ” OJSC and its dealers concluded contracts for supplying industrial washing machines and washer-extractors which had provisions breaching Clause 1 Part 2 and Part 4 Article 11 of the federal Law “On Protection of Competition”.

The purpose of the agreements was to prevent competition between the dealers in the regions allocated for them and to fix the minimum resale price for the products of “VMZ” OJSC.

Consumers of the products manufactured by “VMZ” OJSC are mainly such socially important facilities as day-care centres, hospitals, schools, military units that buy industrial washing machines through the system of public procurement.

“Concluding such agreements restricts competition at tenders and auctions, which, as a consequence, does not allow saving funds for state and municipal ordering parties”, said the Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department, Andrey Tenischev.