Russia's Interior Ministry has filed a criminal suit against SUEK, the country's largest steam coal miner, and rivals Russian Coal and Stroyservice, accusing them of price collusion, the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) said on Tuesday.
"The Interior Ministry of the Russian Federation has filed a criminal suit against SUEK and other energy market participants on the basis of article 178 of the Criminal Code over price collusion. The companies' actions resulted in a coal market carve-up as well as the set-up and maintenance of prices on the market," the service said in a statement, adding that the cartel was uncovered due to joint action with the Interior Ministry.
In December, the antimonopoly watchdog said that the three firms had broken the country's competition legislation, having agreed on coal prices. It also said the companies' revenues from the deal exceeded 100 million rubles ($3.3 million).
SUEK has denied participation in price collusion, saying it did not have enough time to provide full information to the FAS. The company has also said that the watchdog referred to the sales of about 200,000 tons of coal in 2009, out of 87 million tons it sold that year.
If the companies' guilt is proved, they could face a fine of 1 to 15% of revenue. RIA Novosti
