OREANDA-NEWS. April 23, 2009. The 5th Arbitration Appeal Court upheld the ruling of the Sakhalin Regional Arbitration Court which had earlier confirmed legitimacy of the decision of the Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service in the Sakhalin region regarding RN-Vostoknefteproduct" Ltd. - a subsidiary of Rosneft', reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

Earlier the Commission of the Sakhalin OFAS Russia found that "RN-Vostoknefteproduct" Ltd. violated Part 1 Article 10 the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" (abusing dominant position).

OFAS Russia issued a determination to the company requesting it to eliminate the antimonopoly violations. The Appeal Court became the second court instance that confirmed legitimacy of the OFAS decision with regard to the company.

Also on 16th April 2009, the Antimonopoly Service published information at its web site that the 13th Arbitration Appeal Court upheld the judgment of the St Petersburg Arbitration Court that had earlier confirmed legitimacy of the administrative fine imposed by the Omsk OFAS Russia upon "Gqazpromneft" OJSC for failure to present full information required by the antimonopoly body in order to examine the grounds for sharp rise of prices for fuel and lubrication materials in the Omsk region from 14th February 2008 to 14th April 2008.

On 6th April 2009, the Chelyabinsk Regional Arbitration Court supported the decisions of the Chelyabinsk OFAS Russia regarding "Lukoil-Uralnefteproduct" Ltd. and an individual entrepreneur Ms Kazykhanova. OFAS discovered that the companies violated the antimonopoly legislation on the regional oil products market by engaging in concerted actions aimed at maintaining prices for motor fuel.

Investigating the case, the Chelyabinsk OFAS Russia established that in January-June 2008 prices for the petrol distributed by "Lukoil-Uralnefteproduct" Ltd. increased on average by 15%. At the same period prices for the petrol sold by an individual entrepreneur Ms Kazykhanova also started rising up. At the same time, the price per liter of petrol offered by "Lukoil-Uralnefteproduct" Ltd. and an individual entrepreneur Ms Kazykhanova matched each other to a kopeck with the time interval of one or two days.

On 17th March 2009, the Krasnodar Regional Arbitration Court dismissed the claim of "Lukoil-Yugnefteproduct" Ltd. and upheld the decisison of the Krasnodar OFAS Russia. Last year the Commission of the Krasnodar OFAS Russia found that "Lukoil-Yugnefteproduct" Ltd. violated Article 11 the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition". The company violated the law by fixing and maintaining retail prices for motor petrol (grades Ai-92 and Ai-95) and diesel fuel in some municipalities in the region.

On 16th March 2009, the Krasnodar Regional Arbitration Court confirmed legitimacy of the decision of the Krasnodar OFAS Russia regarding another participant of the regional fuel market - "Crocus" Ltd. the Commission of the Krasnodar OFAS Russia found the company violated Article 11 the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" by concerted fixing and maintaining retail prices for motor petrol (grades A-76, Ai-92 and Ai-95) and diesel fuel.

On 12th March 2009, the 13th Arbitration Appeal Court allowed the appeal of FAS Russia and revoked the judgment of the Arbitration Court of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. The Court passed a new judicial act, which dismissed the claim of "Gazprom Neft" OJSC on invalidating and revoking the resolution of FAS Russia that imposed administrative charges upon the company. Last year FAS Russia adopted a resolution on imposing administrative charges upon "Gazprom Neft" OJSC for failure to present within a statutory period all documents and information requested by the antimonopoly body as part of the proceedings on the case for antimonopoly violations on the wholesale market of oil products.

On 5th March 2009, the Belgorod Regional Arbitration Court confirmed legitimacy of the decision and determination issued by the Belgorod OFAS Russia regarding "Oskolneftesnab" CJSC and "Starooskolskaya Neftebaza" Ltd., which were involved in retail sales of oil products in Stary Oskol. The Commission of the antimonopoly body discovered that "Oskolneftesnab" CJSC and "Starooskolskaya Neftebaza" Ltd. simultaneously fixed and maintained retail prices for oil products at the petrol station in Stary Oskol, the Belgorod region, during the same period, without any objective grounds for such actions. The Belgorod OFAS Russia fined the violators in total 6.5 million Rubles.

In the beginning of March, Rosneft' lost its appeal to the Irkutsk regional office of FAS Russia. The "turnover" fine, imposed upon processing a case on antimonopoly violations on the oil products market was 229 million Rubles. The 4th Arbitration Appeal Court upheld the judgment of the Irkutsk Regional Arbitration Court, which earlier pronounced validity and legitimacy of the decision of the Irkutsk regional office of FAS Russia regarding "Rosneft" Oil Company" OJSC. The Irkutsk OFAS Russia found that "Rosneft" Oil Company" OJSC violated Ltd. violated Part 1 Article. The oil company abused its dominant position by creating preferential conditions for buying oil products to its subsidiaries (in particular, "Irkutsknefteproduct") and discriminatory conditions for the buyers that were not members of the company's group of persons.

On 11th February 2009, the 15th Arbitration Appeal Court dismissed the claim of "Ingushnefteproduct" Ltd. and confirmed legitimacy and relevance of the decision made by the Rostov OFAS Russia. Earlier the decision of the antimonopoly body was supported by the Rostov Regional Arbitration Court. The Rostov OFAS Russia found that "Ingushnefteproduct" Ltd. and "Imperial" Oil Company" Ltd. violated Article 11 the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition". The OFAS Commission established that the companies were engaged in concerted actions aimed at fixing and maintaining overrated petrol prices in the Ingushetia Republic.

In January 2009 the second court instance confirmed legitimacy of the decision of the Antimonopoly Service in the case on uncompetitive behavior of "Gazprom Neft" OJSC and "Lukoil" on the retail fuel market in Yekaterinburg.

The 17th Arbitration Appeal Court pronounced validity of the decision and determination issued by the Sverdlovsk OFAS Russia regarding "Yekaterinbugrnefteproduct" OJSC (a subsidiary of "Gazprom Neft" OJSC) and "Lukoil-Perm'nefteproduct" Ltd., which were engaged in concerted actions for fixing retail prices for oil products. Earlier the Sverdlovsk Regional Arbitration Court also confirmed the rightness of the regional office of FAS Russia and upheld the decision, that "Yekaterinbugrnefteproduct" OJSC and "Lukoil-Perm'nefteproduct" Ltd. had violated the the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" by engaging in concerted actions on the retail market of oil products in Yekaterinburg, and the determination on eliminating the violation.