OREANDA-NEWS. April 21, 2014. The Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation pronounced legitimacy and reasonableness of the decision of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) that the Ministry of the Samara Region for Economic Development, Investments and Trade violated Part 1 Article 15 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” (prohibiting competition-restricting actions of executive bodies).

Earlier the Ministry of the Samara Region for Economic Development, Investments and Trade refused to accept declaration of a duty free store – “AeroTradeService” Ltd. on the volume of retail trade with alcohol products in the Samara region due to absence of a supplier (producer) registration number and the date of issue. Then the Ministry suspended the license of “AeroTradeService” Ltd. for retail sale of alcohol products in “Kurumoch” international airport due to breach of licensing requirements.

Investigating the case, the FAS Commission established that conclusions of the Ministry of the Samara Region for Economic Development, Investments and Trade that “AeroTradeService” Ltd. had violated the licensing requirements were unlawful.

A supplier of “AeroTradeService” Ltd. is a foreign company – a resident of the Federative Republic of Germany that does not have and cannot have a Russian license for circulation of alcohol products.

The Ministry disagreed with the FAS decision and filed a lawsuit. Moscow Arbitration Court and the 9th Arbitration Appeal Court pronounced legitimacy and reasonableness of the FAS decision. The Federal Arbitration Court of the Moscow District reversed the rulings of the Court of First Instance and Appeal Court referring to lack of proof of restricted competition.

FAS Russia asked the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court (SAC) to reconsider the ruling of the Cassation Court in the exercise of review procedures. SAC Presidium found the arguments of the Antimonopoly Service substantiated and reversed the ruling of the Cassation Court.

“The position of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court is essential in terms of enforcement practice, because in judicial disputes it is important to cover not only the issue of proof of restricted competition but also legitimacy of the requirements to economic entities”, pointed out the Head of FAS Department for Control over the Authorities, Vladimir Mishelovin.