Court rules in favour of Petrotrans-Primorsk in a dispute with RZD
The Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation has upheld the decision and order of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (Leningrad regional branch of FAS) in respect of JSC Russian Railways (RZD) for anticompetitive practices, the FAS said in its press release.
The antitrust regulator claimed that RZD imposed on LLC Petrotrans-Primorsk unfavorable and excessive technical conditions for the development of public railways.
The state-owned rail monopoly also fended the private operator off the market niche of using railway infrastructure and handling of oil products. Such actions were in violation of Article 10 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" (abuse of dominant position in the market), the antitrust watchdog said.
The regional FAS had issued an order to cease violations of antitrust laws and had slapped the rail monopolist with a fine of more than $1.3m.
The Russian Railways did not agree with the FAS decision and appealed to the court, but failed in the Court of Arbitration, which dismissed the lawsuit.
"We are very pleased that the court has finished the dispute of Petrotrans-Primorsk and Russian Railways upholding our decision. Now the monopolist is just obliged to give the railroad company specifications without excessive burdens," said the head of the Leningrad regional FAS of Russia Vadim Vladimirov.
