OREANDA-NEWS. July 14, 2009. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) initiated a case against 12 economic entities for violating Article 11 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" (competition-restricting agreements and concerted actions). FAS Russia suspects collusion in the auction for the works for dispatching control of in-flat water meters, organized by a Moscow Prefecture, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

"The materials received by FAS Russia from the Moscow City Control Committee have elements of bid-rigging", said Alexander Kinev, the Head of the FAS Russia's Cartel Department.

"We suspect that the auction outcome could have been achieved through concerted actions between some bidders. For instance, the bidders filed the bids for several lots although they voted only for one lot and only at the tenth auction step, when the price was different from the original one by only 0.5%. As a result, every bidder became the winner of one lot".