OREANDA-NEWS. December 25, 2013. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) found that the Ministry of Health Care of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), “No.2 Republican Hospital – Centre for Emergency Medical Aid” State Budgetary Institution of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), “Diatech AG” CJSC, “Diatech S. A.” (Switzerland), “ROS MED” Ltd. and “Siemens” Ltd. violated Article 16 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”.

The FAS Commission established that these legal entities concluded and implemented an anticompetitive agreement to eliminate competition at bidding for procurement of a multi-modal diagnostic suite (medical equipment) for the needs of “No.2 Republican Hospital – Centre for Emergency Medical Aid” State Budgetary Institution of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

According to the FAS Commission, as a result of the actions undertaken by the participants of the agreement, medical equipment, manufactured by “Siemens Aktiengesellsсhaft” (Germany) and sold by “Diatech S.A.” (Switzerland) for 102.99 million RUB, was supplied for the needs of health care of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) at 378.05 million RUB. The difference in price for medical equipment through intermediation transactions was 275.06 million RUB.

The case was initiated upon materials received by FAS from the Investigation Department, of the Investigation Committee of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

FAS intends to continue cooperating with the Investigation Committee in investigating other cases on violating the antimonopoly law by officials of the government bodies.

The case specifics is establishing the fact of participating a foreign legal entity - “Diatech S. A.” (Switzerland) - in the anticompetitive agreement.

The provisions of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” apply to agreements reached outside the territory of the Russian Federation between Russian and (or) foreign persons or organizations as well as actions exercised by them if such agreements or actions influence the state of competition in the Russian Federation.

“Siemens Aktiengesellschaft” (Germany) and the Government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) were also brought into the antimonopoly proceedings as respondents. In the course of the investigation, the FAS Commission did not reveal evidence of their participation in the agreement.

“Procurement of expensive medical equipment is a necessary condition for developing a modern health care system in Russia. Competition in procurement of such equipment ensures saving state funds and targeting them for other, no less important tasks”, pointed out Deputy Head of FAS Alexander Kinev.