FAS will file a separate case against HP and Lenovo. LG and Philips will check for price collusion

The Federal Antimonopoly Service is preparing to initiate a separate case against HP and Lenovo on the fact of cartel collusion during public procurement, RBC reports with reference to RIA Novosti. The head of department, Igor Artemyev, announced the initiation of the case as part of his statement. The decision will be made before the end of March this year.

In addition, the FAS is already conducting inspections of the offices of two other foreign manufacturers, officially operating in Russia - LG and Philips, for price collusion, according to Vedomosti. At the same time, Philips employees hinder the actions of FAS employees.

Recall, on January 27, it was reported about the initiation of proceedings against HP and Lenovo due to suspicions of cartel collusion.

The case was held by the companies-suppliers of the GAS Election system (assembled on the basis of HP equipment), against which a collusion case was initially initiated. Later, the manufacturers themselves, HP and Lenovo, added to them.

Persons involved in the first group case on cartel collusion, the electronics manufacturers began after the department concluded that the actions of six Russian companies on public procurement were coordinated by the Russian offices of foreign manufacturers. It was HP and Lenovo equipment that were offered at the tender by the company Business Computers Group, LLC AMI-NETWORK LLC, CROC Incorporated and Superwave Group LLC.

At the same time, the prospective contractors reduced the price by only 1% - the minimum allowable increment in bidding.

“There are checks . But there will be a deal - do not hesitate. There will definitely be a deal. There are signs of an offense there, ”Artemyev commented on the situation.

In parallel with this, FAS checks pricing for LG and Philips products. Earlier, the agency has already checked the prices of Apple products, suspecting its Russian daughter Apple Rus, which is a monopolist in terms of supplies to the Russian market, is under pressure from 16 retailers. In December last year, the FAS requested data on retail prices for flagship smartphones from Sony, LG, Alcatel and Asus.