A probe by Russia's Federal Antitrust Service (FAS) concluded that seven Russian PVC producers apparently conspired to illegally divide the market into spheres of influence shared among them, the agency said Wednesday on its website, adding that given its findings, its next step would be to prosecute the companies for the alleged violations.
The seven companies accused of wrongdoing are United Trading Company, Sayanskkhimplast, Siberian chemical company, Bashkir chemicals, Kaustik (Sterlitamak), Nikokhim and Kaustik (Volgograd).
According to the results of the FAS probe, the companies agreed in 2005 to divide the Russian market for suspension PVC between them, by agreeing to production and sales shares, the agency said. They also agreed to exchange information on production and sales volumes, as well as their customer databases, FAS said.
FAS said the companies would be prosecuted under the Administrative Code.
It also said that given the extent of the companies' revenues that resulted from the illegal market division, it would pass the case to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to decide whether to initiate criminal proceedings.
