OREANDA-NEWS. September 23, 2010. As of 1st September 2010, regional offices of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) initiated 59 cases based on the results of FAS Russia’s monitoring prices for socially important goods, of which 50 cases for the signs of antimonopoly violations and 9 cases for the signs of violating the law on trade, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

The antimonopoly bodies are checking whether all market participants – suppliers of raw materials, producers of food products, wholesalers and retail chains comply with the law.

If sings of antimonopoly violations are discovered, regional offices of FAS Russia employ antimonopoly enforcement measures.

FAS has opened cases on fixing monopolistically high prices for agricultural and food products by economic entities, economically unjustified refusals to enter or evading, concerted actions between economic entities aimed at increasing prices, etc.

The antimonopoly bodies are also verifying compliance with the Law “On the Basic Principles o State Regulation in the Russian Federation”. In particular, they are analyzing offers with inflated prices, made by the largest suppliers of food products to retail chains.

FAS Russia and the Prosecutor’s Office have formed and launched a joint Working Group to discover and suppress unlawful concerted actions between suppliers of food products, which cause growth of prices for food products.

One of priority tasks facing FAS Russia and its regional offices is removing administrative barriers for the movement of food products from producers to end consumers, created mostly by regional and local authorities.

Should facts of unlawful administrative barriers be revealed, FAS Russia and its regional offices will enforce Articles 15 and 16 of No.135-FZ Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”. Currently the antimonopoly bodies have already opened investigations based on such facts.