OREANDA-NEWS. May 06, 2010. The 10th Arbitration Appeal Court allowed the claims of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) on invalidating and cancelling the results of the auctions for selling the right for lease contracts for state-owned forest plots, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

The auctions were organized by the Forestry Department of the Moscow Region and Moscow (Mosleskhoz) on 19th and 20th December 2007. The ruling means that arrangements for leasing forest plots in the area of Rublevo-Uspenskoye motorway, completed upon the outcome of the auctions, must be recognized invalid.

On 16th June 2008, FAS Russian found that Mosleskhoz violated Part 2 Article 17 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" (prohibiting non-statutory restrictions of participation in competitive bidding by the authorities).

FAS Russia established that when Mosleskhoz had announced the auctions, the published notices had not contained information about the need to preliminary register in order to file the bids. The bids were accepted in the building of Mosleskhoz. Also officers of Mosleskhoz personally accepted documents and the bidders did not have any other possibility to file their bids, for instance, by mail. Therefore, Mosleskhoz set unlawful restrictions for the bidders wishing to participate in the auctions.

Mosleskhoz disagreed with the FAS Russia's decision and filed a lawsuit. On 27th April 2009, the third court instance - the Federal Arbitration Court of the Moscow District definitively confirmed legitimacy of the FAS Russia's conclusions.

Then FAS Russia filed lawsuits (in accordance with Part 4 Article 17 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition", violating the competitive bidding procedures constitutes the grounds for t judicial invalidating of the bidding in question and the arrangements based on the outcome of the bidding, in particular, upon a lawsuit filed by an antimonopoly body). The 10th Arbitration Appeal Court allowed the claims of FAS Russia.

"We are happy that the Court cancelled the results of these auctions as now the persons that were not allowed to participate in the auctions can again lay claim to the right for lease contracts for the forest plots they have interest in", commented the ruling Vladimir Yefimov, the Head of the Moscow OFAS Russia.