Russia: Heineken Commercial Service accused by Federal Antimonopoly Service of Nizhny Novgorod
The Nizhny Novgorod department of Federal Antimonopoly Service ruled on March 24 Heineken Commercial Service violated antimonopoly law by limiting the territorial zones of responsibility of its distributors, Kommersant reported on March 24.
If that decision is supported in the federal level, it will affect the interests of most of the large companies on the food market, since they have similar operational schemes.
The case against Heineken Commercial Service, a subsidiary of Heineken NV, and its eight distributors in Nizhny Novgorod Region was filed by wholesale beer distributors in October 2005. When Heineken Commercial Service reformed its distribution system, it introduced territorial limitations for its distributors.
Every authorized distributor was strictly limited in the territory where it had the right to operate. Small wholesale buyers held that that deprived them of the right to choose distributors.
The Nizhny Novgorod department of the Antimonopoly Service ruled that Heineken violated the law “On Competition,” which prohibits the coordination of action between commercial organizations.
The service ordered that the agreements with the distributors be annulled by July 1. That decision may have serious repercussions for the entire food products market. Head of the antimonopoly control division of the Nizhny Novgorod department of the Federal Antimonopoly Service Igor Devyataikin told Kommersant that “we intend to heck the distribution schemes of the rest of the market participants in the near future.” The Moscow Federal Antimonopoly Service stated that it supports its colleagues and intends to extend their decision to the entire territory of Russia.
Analysts note that territorial limitations on distributors are beneficial for producers. “It allows them to avoid competition between dealers in one territory and allows them to maintain a unified price policy in the entire territory of the distribution of the product,” commented Uralsib analyst Marat Ibragimov.
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