FAS found signs of cartel collusion during road works in Moscow

Road cartel. Signs of a cartel. Collusion between "Oblstroy" and "Transstroyservis". Responsibility, consequences.

FAS found signs of cartel collusion during road works in Moscow.

The Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service for Moscow has revealed signs of a cartel agreement between Oblstroy and Transstroyservis when concluding contracts for the repair and improvement of roads in the city, the Vedomosti newspaper reports. The total value of these contracts is estimated at more than 7.5 billion rubles.

In total, the FAS confirmed the presence of collusion in 30 tenders that concerned the restoration of roads and the supply of building materials. In the autumn investigation of the Yabloko party, it was said that the collusion of the companies could be facilitated by the deputy head of the administration of the Basmanny district, Sergei Salnikov, and the head of the state treasury institution, the Directorate of Capital Repairs of the Department of Capital Repairs of the City of Moscow, Alexei Butusov. It is also reported that six companies from Kursk and Kazan received more than 8.7 billion rubles in public procurement for the overhaul and improvement of the capital over three years, including Oblstroy and Transstroyservis. One of the results of their collusion was the construction of a poor-quality road to Sheremetyevo Airport, which was flooded shortly after the completion of the work. Signs that make it possible to establish the presence of a cartel are, in particular, sending applications from the same IP addresses and their time synchronization.

The cartel deal for 7.6 billion rubles can be considered a major one. But will the organizers of the cartels manage to avoid personal responsibility for the conspiracy, commented Vitaly Vetrov, managing partner of the law firm Vetrov and Partners.

The search for cartels is becoming the norm for antitrust authorities in various regions. Some people do it better, some worse. Where the amounts of contracts are significant, the likelihood of getting investigated for the existence of a cartel is higher. Therefore, if there are signs, then in addition to a large fine, you can also receive criminal liability. Moreover, when considering the case itself, both the behavior of the subjects in the absence of direct evidence and indirect evidence are important. This sometimes “breaks through” any defense and quickly leads to the termination of activities for the person held liable.

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