eral Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has imposed fines upon two cartel participants on the market of wholesale supply of salmon and trout from Norway to Russia.In July 2013, FAS found that Russian Sea Group, ITA Northern Company, Ryba and Retail, as well as ProfiBusiness, Northern Company Kaliningrad, and Atlant-Pacific guilty of forming market-dividing cartel.
FAS announced it fined Retail RUB 40.2 million (USD 1.2 million/EUR 889,458) and Russian Sea Group was fined RUB 100,000 (USD 3,020/EUR 2,213) for their involvement in the alleged cartel.
“These are the first cartel members held administratively liable for the anticompetitive agreement on the market of wholesale supplies of fish form Norway. Companies that took part in the anticompetitive agreement can be fined from 1 to 15 percent of the income gained on the market where the violation was committed, while their executives can be punished by criminal sanctions,” said Andrey Tenischev, head of the FAS Anti-Cartel Department.
“At the moment the Ministry of Interior is carrying out a pre-investigation check of companies’ executives, as a result of which a criminal case can be open under Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.”
