Spectrum-DV

History

2024

Fine for creating a cartel with participation in 700 public procurement

The Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service for the Khabarovsk Territory in early December 2024 imposed fines of ₽41,7 million on seven medical device companies for cartel collusion in 647 government purchases from 2015 to 2023.

According to the Department of the Federal Antimonopoly Service for the Khabarovsk Territory, Spektr-DV LLC, Vector-Best-Amur JSC, Medias LLC, ALEF LLC, VostokMedBusiness LLC, Dalmedikal Company LLC and Medtekhnika-Service LLC participated in the cartel agreement. The companies coordinated actions when supplying medical equipment to budgetary institutions of the Far Eastern Federal District.

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Freepik

The antimonopoly department revealed violations of paragraph 2 of part 1 of article 11 of the federal law "On Protection of Competition." For violation of the law, companies are assigned negotiable fines in accordance with Article 14.32 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Russia.

All penalties will be sent to the federal budget. The materials of the investigation were transferred to law enforcement agencies, which opened a criminal case on the fact of cartel collusion.

The cartel was identified against the background of a critical situation in the health care system of the Khabarovsk Territory. The interim head of the region, Dmitry Demeshin, criticized the level of medical care in the region and instructed to develop measures to increase the availability of medical care.

In connection with the increase in the number of complaints from local residents about the regional health care system, Roszdravnadzor initiated an audit of the quality of medical care in the region. When visiting one of the hospitals, patients informed the acting governor about the difficulties with the appointment to doctors, especially to narrow-profile specialists.^[1]

Participation in the cartel for 370 million rubles

In September 2024, it became known that the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia revealed a cartel conspiracy in the Khabarovsk Territory in the supply of medical devices. As a result of the audit, it turned out that seven companies registered in the region participated in an anti-competitive agreement. The total value of 648 contracts for the supply of medical products amounted to ₽373,5 million, and orders came from budgetary institutions of the Far Eastern Federal District.

According to the FAS, such companies as Spektr-DV LLC, Vector-Best-Amur JSC, Medias LLC, ALEF LLC, VostokMedBusiness LLC, Dalmedikal Company LLC and Medtekhnika-Service LLC became participants in the cartel. All of them were found to have violated antitrust laws. According to the FAS, the conspiracy led to an overestimation of prices for the supply of medical devices to regional clinics.

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Freepik

According to OFAS representatives, the cartel case was opened after analyzing more than 600 government purchases related to the supply of medical goods. The case materials were transferred to law enforcement agencies to resolve the issue of initiating a criminal case. If guilt is established, companies may face serious negotiable fines provided for by the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Spektr-DV LLC is one of the key companies in this conspiracy. The owner of the company is Valeria Dunaevskaya. Among other participants in the anti-competitive agreement, Vector-Best-Amur JSC stands out, the main shareholder of which is Vector-Best JSC. Another company involved in the investigation was Medias LLC, owned by Oleg Karpov. ALEF LLC, also involved in the conspiracy, belongs to Sergei Folyushnyak and Bogdan Locanche.

FAS also named several more companies involved in the cartel agreement: VostokMedBusiness LLC, Dalmedikal Company LLC and Medtekhnika-Service LLC. The owners and management of these companies, as in the case of other defendants, may face criminal liability if their guilt is proven.^[2]

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