OREANDA-NEWS. January 19, 2010. The Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation denied the claim of "Oskolneftesnab" OJSC on re-opening a case in exercise of supervisory powers over the judicial acts on the case about invalidating a decision of the Belgorod Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (OFAS Russia), reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

The Belgorod OFAS Russia found that "Oskolneftesnab" OJSC and "Starooskolskaya Neftebaza" Ltd. violated Article 11 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" (prohibiting competition-restricting agreements or concerted actions between economic entities). The FAS Russia's Commission discovered that in the same period "Oskolneftesnab" OJSC and "Starooskolskaya Neftebaza" Ltd. 11 times fixed and maintained retail prices for oil products at service stations in Stary Oskol in a coordinated fashion without any objective reasons.

The Courts of the First, Appeal and cassation Instances confirmed validity of the decision made by the Belgorod OFAS Russia. Then "Oskolneftesnab" OJSC asked the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation to reconsider judicial acts in exercise of supervisory powers.

The request of "Oskolneftesnab" OJSC on transferring the case for reconsideration to the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation was denied. "According to the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, the Courts gave comprehensive consideration to all circumstances of the case and properly concluded that companies violated the antimonopoly law", said Sergey Petrov, the Head of the Belgorod OFAS Russia.