OREANDA-NEWS. January 26, 2010. The Moscow Arbitration Court confirmed validity of the decision and determination of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) regarding the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

Earlier FAS Russia found that the Ministry of Agriculture violated Clause 2 Part 1 Article 15 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition".

The Ministry of Agriculture violated the law by unreasonably requesting that economic entities must every three years send fumigation experts for training under special educational programmes only to the institutions subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture and the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phyto-Sanitary Control (Rosselkhoznadzor). This requirement was formalized in a normative act (the order) of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The antimonopoly authority found that this requirement can unlawfully restrict possibility of fumigation experts to choose institutions providing relevant education services, as well create discriminatory conditions for entering such educational institutions into the market.

The Ministry of Agriculture disagreed with the argumentation of FAS Russia and filed a lawsuit; however, the Court confirmed validity of the decision and determination issued by the antimonopoly authority.

"Specialists in this vitally important field must advance their skills on a regular basis, but they should be able to choose between educational programmes as well as institutions where they can receive training", said Pavel Subbotin, Deputy Head of FAS Russia.