OREANDA-NEWS. January 19, 2010. The Arkhangelsk Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (OFAS Russia) imposed administrative charges fined upon the Savings Bank of the Russian Federation (OJSC) under Article 14.31 of the Code on Administrative Violations for abusing market dominance. The Bank is fined 4,440,611 Rubles, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

Earlier the Arkhangelsk OFAS Russia found that the Savings Bank of the Russian Federation abused its market dominance by fixing unjustified price for a financial service offered by the Bank (in breach of Clause 7 Part 1 Article 10 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition").

The case was investigated upon a petition from an individual entrepreneur (forwarded to OFAS from the Arkhangelsk Regional Department for Economic Development) regarding increased tariffs for settlement and cash services in the Arkhangelsk branch of the Savings Bank of Russia (No.8637).

Investigating the case, the Arkhangelsk OFAS Russia analyzed the market of banking services in the Arkhangelsk region in 2007-2008.

The Arkhangelsk OFAS Russia established that the Savings Bank of Russia has dominant position in the market in question for opening and keeping Ruble accounts of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs and providing settlement services. OFAS was able to confirm that in January 2009 the Savings Bank of Russia unreasonably increased the tariffs for settlement and cash services, in some cases by more than twofold.

As a result of the investigation, OFAS issued a determination obligating the Savings Bank of Russia to reduce the tariffs for settlement and cash services to the level of January 2009 (before the increase which was the subject matter of the complaint of the individual entrepreneur).