Regulator fines Russian potash miners over prices
MOSCOW. April 7 (Interfax) - The Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has fined potash miner Uralkali 103 million rubles for breaking competition law by charging monopolistic prices for potassium chloride, the FAS told Interfax.
The regulator has also fined potash miner Silvinit 142.9 million rubles and LLC Mineral Trading 18.06 million rubles.
The FAS in December 2009 deemed all three companies guilty of attempted price fixing starting in Q3 2009 with the risk that Russian fertilizer producers would have to pay as much as 4,750 rubles a tonne for potash from Q2 2009.
The FAS later asked the companies to set an indicative price of 3,755 rubles a tonne for 2010.
Uralkali has challenged the December ruling and the arbitration court is due to hear the appeal on April 21.