For gasoline: Avito, Ozon and Wildberries stopped speculation, the FAS covered the cartel

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) reported that it had identified a cartel of companies buying gasoline on the stock exchange for resale, and also agreed with digital platforms to stop speculating with fuel on them.

FAS informs that it has opened a case on violation of antimonopoly legislation against Solid-Commodity Markets JSC, Agrotorg YUG LLC and Hansel LLC.

"They systematically committed actions on the stock exchange, which led to the redemption of the entire volume of fuel planned for sale on the stock exchange. This limited the possibility of buying petroleum products by bona fide market participants," the agency reports.

They clarified that during unscheduled on-site inspections, the service revealed facts that confirm the coordination of organizations when concluding transactions at exchange auctions.

"The actions of the companies revealed signs of an anticompetitive agreement in order to generate income on a particularly large scale as a result of regular resale of gasoline and diesel fuel at inflated prices," the FAS said.

In order to reduce retail speculation, the service has agreed with digital platforms to stop gasoline sales.

"In particular, Avito hid fuel trading ads for the time of finalizing the rules in this category. The sale of fuel for cars is prohibited on the digital platforms Ozon and Wildberries. Attempts to create cards of such goods are blocked even at the moderation stage before they appear on the electronic storefront of marketplaces," the antimonopoly service said.

Earlier, the agency reported on working with large Moscow independent gas station chains, whose prices have risen sharply.