OREANDA-NEWS. January 13, 2014. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) imposed fines upon two cartel participants on the market of wholesale supply of salmon and trout from Norway to Russia.

In July 2013, FAS found that a group of persons comprising “Russian Sea” Group of Companies” OJSC, “Russian Fish Company” CJSC and “Russian Sea - Kaliningrad” Ltd.; a group of persons comprising “ITA Northern Company” CJSC, “Ryba” SK” Ltd. and “Retail” SK” CJSC, as well as “ProfiBusiness” Ltd., “Northern Company Kaliningrad” Ltd., and “Atlant-Pacific” CJSC violated Clause 3 Part 1 Article 11 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” (a market-dividing cartel).

“Retail” SK” CJSC was fined 40.2 million RUB, the “Russian Sea” Group of Companies” OJSC – 100,000 RUB.

“These are the first cartel members held administratively liable for the anticompetitive agreement on the market of wholesale supplies of fish form Norway. Companies that took part in the anticompetitive agreement can be fined from 1 to 15% of the income gained on the market where the violation was committed, while their executives can be punished by criminal sanctions. At the moment the Ministry of Interior is carrying out a pre-investigation check of companies’ executives, as a result of which a criminal case can be open under Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation”, pointed out the Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department, Andrey Tenischev.