OREANDA-NEWS. May 24, 2010. Transcript of the beginning of the meeting: Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon. Mr Artemyev, the Antimonopoly Service will soon celebrate the anniversary of its founding.

Igor Artemyev: Our 20th anniversary.

Vladimir Putin: We have recently done much to strengthen the agency itself, as well as the legal framework on which it operates.

We have two packages of antimonopoly laws in effect. The first package was adopted some time ago, and enough time has passed to assess its effectiveness. The second package was adopted only recently, but it also plays a very important role in this area.

I think this package of laws must have generated some response. In any case, international organisations have evaluated it positively, which is a good sign. But we need to ensure that all these laws work in practice.

I would like to discuss several practical issues with you. As our country is recovering from the crisis, certain industries have independently expressed their wishes, unjustified in my mind, to increase prices.

It is clear that costs may increase and that the economic situation has changed. However, this is no justification for hiking up prices. You know what I'm talking about; we have recently discussed this issue. For example, the possibility of an increase in prices for metal products has recently been announced. We need to have a very serious discussion about this issue with our colleagues representing businesses. We need to look into the actual conditions, pricing policies and other elements affecting this process.

Igor Artemyev: Mr Putin, thank you very much for the opportunity to meet with you today. As for practical issues, we can see these negative trends developing in two areas. Prices are increasing rapidly in certain industries. You mentioned metal production.

We are monitoring this industry. Last week we launched an antitrust investigation into Evraz Group for setting high, monopolistic prices. We are currently examining the entire production chain, from the raw iron ore to iron ore pellets, metallurgical coal and metal, including rolled metal and other finished products.

The issue of greatest concern is that the pricing is based on inadequate assessments of global markets and trends. Therefore, expenditures and costs are exaggerated. The distribution systems often include intermediaries, so-called trading houses.

We are currently investigating the distribution system for the metal production industry. We often find companies that resell finished goods that can be bought at a factory with a 20% to 30% mark-up.