FAS ordered two subsidiaries of Lukoil to eliminate violations

MOSCOW, 31 Aug — PRIME. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia has completed consideration of cases of unreasonable inflated retail prices for gasoline against subsidiaries of Lukoil in the Nizhny Novgorod Region and the Perm Territory, ordered them to eliminate the related violations, the agency said.

In February, the Perm OFAS opened a case against Lukoil-Uralnefteprodukt due to a sharp increase in the cost of gasoline in the fourth quarter of 2021. In April, the company reduced retail prices at a number of filling stations. A similar case was initiated against a second enterprise, Nizhny Novgorod’s Lukoil-Tsentrnefteprodukt, in January.

“The Nizhny Novgorod OFAS Russia and the Perm OFAS Russia have completed consideration of cases against Lukoil-Tsentrnefteprodukt LLC and Lukoil-Uralnefteprodukt LLC on the grounds of violation of the law on protection of competition (part 1 of article 10). The companies were also issued orders to eliminate violations,” — the service reported.

According to the Federal Antimonopoly Service, there were no objective economic grounds for increasing the price of gasoline at gas stations, and its increase was recognized as unreasonable.

“During the consideration of cases, the facts were confirmed that the expenses of companies that are necessary for the retail sale of AI-92 and AI-95 gasoline were reduced due to a decrease in the cost of purchasing petroleum products in the wholesale segment,” the department explained.

According to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, enterprises will be fined, its amount is still unknown. Their actions infringe on the rights and interests of consumers in the Nizhny Novgorod region and the Perm Territory, the FAS noted.