In 2011, following an examination of an antitrust case, the FAS of Russia declared the Association of Alcohol Market Operators in Orenburg Region (the “Association”) guilty of illegal coordination of its members’ business operations and issued respective instructions to cease the violation.

The Association did not agree with the decision and the instructions and contested them in court. Court proceedings lasted a long time and only in May 2015 the Commercial Arbitration Court of Uralsky Circuit confirmed that the acts adopted by the antitrust authority were legitimate (case No.А47-7950/2011)

The commercial arbitration court also satisfied the claim of the FAS on charging the Association with the court costs incurred by the antitrust authority in the course of litigation. The amount of costs collected constituted approximately 225,000 Rubles. Earlier court practice was different and the courts refused to satisfy claims of the FAS on compensation of such costs, even when the court confirmed that the defendant did in fact violate the antitrust legislation.

If this approach becomes a precedent and commercial arbitration courts start to generally apply such approach in the future and resolve such issues in the same manner, a violator of the antitrust legislation will need to pay not only an administrative fine, but also court costs which can be rather significant. Therefore, court proceedings against the FAS will become more expensive for persons contesting its decisions. 

Irina Akimova  Of Counsel                                Moscow   iakimova@cls.ru  Tel.: +7 (495) 970 1090

Dmitry Gavrilenko     Associate                Moscow       Tel.: +7 (495) 970 1090

Additional notes

Should any questions arise in connection with the above or if you need any additional materials, please contact Irina Akimova or Dmitry Gavrilenko, Moscow Office of Capital Legal Services.

This Information letter keeps the clients of Capital Legal Services and other interested parties abreast of information that may, to any extent, affect their activity or cater to their particular interests. The opinions and commentaries expressed in this information letter shall not be deemed as legal opinions and do not cancel the need to obtain legal advice or legal opinion on separate issues.