Regulator sees little competition in construction contracts for Gazprom
ST. PETERSBURG. July 6 (Interfax) - The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) is monitoring the situation on the market for construction and installation work for Russian gas giant Gazprom and has noted that there is little competition on it, the deputy head of the regulator, Andrei Tsarikovsky said.
"Before, there was more competition on this market. There are no monopolies yet, but it is true that it is becoming a market with little competition," Tsarikovsky told reporters when asked about the possible concentration and monopolization of Gazprom's procurements of construction and installation services by companies such as Stroytransgaz (STG) and Stroygazmontazh (SGM).
"Unfortunately, not all organizations [that could bid in Gazprom tenders for construction and installation work] survived the crisis situation. The number of winners [of tenders] is narrowing, but not yet sufficiently to talk about the monopolization of the market. We haven't yet reached the stage where it's possible to say that the market is monopolized, but the number of participants is already quite critical. It hasn't yet reached the line, but for us it's already fairly unhealthy," Tsarikovsky said.
Commenting on the situation with Gazprom's procurements of expensive process equipment, such as compressors, Tsarikovsky said: "Honestly, we haven't looked yet. Our area of attention could be all fields of industry. I haven't looked at the situation with compressors, but FAS will look at this area of industry with interest."