OREANDA-NEWS. July 23, 2010. Primorye Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (OFAS Russia) established the fact of violating Part 1 Article 15 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" by the Office of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in Primorye region, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

Investigating the case, the Commission of Primorye OFAS Russia concluded that the Office of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate restricted competition on the market of services for inspecting technical conditions of motor vehicles.

Primorye OFAS Russia received a petition from the Association of Regional Primorye Enterprises for Technical Diagnostics of Motor Vehicles about unlawful actions of the Office of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate. According to the petition filed by the Association, Primorye Office of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate pushed several organizations, which were long-term providers of the services of technical diagnostics of motor vehicles, from the relevant market and granted unjustified preferences to new companies.

The Association's petition stated that in 2009 state traffic safety inspectors, that had been exercising state technical motor vehicle inspections for eight years at specially created workplaces, stopped working at the motor vehicle technical inspection points owned by some legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.

Primorye Office of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate recalled its officers, responsible for state technical inspection of motor vehicles, from all technical inspection points in Vladivistok, with which Primorye Office of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate had contract relations, except the technical inspection points owned by "VladKons" Ltd.

Therefore, except the Motor Vehicle Registration and Driver Examination Division of Primorye Office of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, state technical inspection in Vladivostok can only be carried out at two technical inspections points owned by the same legal entity - "VladKons" Ltd. At the same time technical conditions of motor vehicle by means of technical diagnostics can be checked at 16 technical inspection points, owned by various business entities.

This puts "VladKons" Ltd. in unequal conditions with other technical inspection points. The technical inspection points of VladKons" Ltd. are more attractive for the clients because they can simultaneously check technical conditions of their vehicles and pass state technical inspection within a reasonably short period, in comparison with the technical inspection points that do not provide the services of state technical inspection.

The Commission of Primorye OFAS Russia also established that technical inspection points owned by VladKons" Ltd. can gain additions income for the "rendered" services - giving vehicles owners a possibility to get to the territory of inspection points for further technical inspection of their vehicles.

Having examined the case materials and heard the arguments presented by the two parties, the Commission of Primorye OFAS Russia found that Primorye Office of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate violating Part 1 Article 15 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition", which prohibits acts and actions of the authorities that have resulted or can result in preventing, eliminating or restricting competition, except the cases provided for by the federal laws.