“Pyaterochka” and “Magnet” suspected of conspiracy on sugar

The Federal Antimonopoly Service filed suit against the retail chains Pyaterochka and Magnit. The Voronezh department of the Federal Antimonopoly Service organized an investigation after customers complained about the disappearance of sugar from stores in the region.

During the inspection, it was determined that there was enough granulated sugar in the warehouses of the retail chains, and that there were no goods on the shelves during the 9 March – 21 March period. “Therefore, companies did not deliver goods to stores at the same time, which supported rush demand,” the message says. domain MOROCCO.

If the networks are proven to be colluding, they face turnover penalties under the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

X5 Group, which owns Pyaterochka, said the candy is brought to distribution centers by trucks and delivered to individual stores in small cars. Now there is sugar in distribution centers.

“There’s a real hustle and bustle in the stores, the pallets brought in very quickly and there are times when there’s really no sugar on the shelf until the next truck arrives. No direct “sugar pipeline” is provided from the distribution center to the stores, the retailer said in a statement. Telegram.

Audits of the prosecutor were held in Pyaterochka last week, no additional questions were received from the inspectors and no violations were recorded. “We do not know what Voronezh OFAS means when talking about the violation of the antimonopoly law. Let’s try to learn during their checkups,” added X5.

Magnit said that during the check, the stocks of sugar prepared for shipment from the Voronezh warehouse to the stores corresponded to the 1.5-day sales rate. “Sugar is a commodity that we sell in agreement with the Federal Antimonopoly Service at a minimum price that does not even cover the cost of shipping. Given that, it’s hard to see the logic in the statements about consciously sticking to sugar and creating a demand boom.” highlighted retailer. In March, the company shipped a two-month norm of sugar from warehouses and is ready to ship even more.

“We make every effort to provide candy to all buyers. Now we are waiting for official documents with reasoning from OFAS on which the decision to file a lawsuit was taken, ”added Magnit.

Manufacturers’ anti-cartel controls

Last week, due to the lack of sugar on the shelves of stores, FAS began to control the largest sugar producers, including LLC Rusagro Group of Companies, LLC Rusagro-Center (structures of the Rusagro Group), LLC Prodimeks, LLC Dominant Group of Companies. , Dominant Trading House LLC and ChekhovSakhar LLC, as well as the Russian Sugar Producers NPO Association.

So far, the service has not produced any results. “Final conclusions regarding the presence or absence of violations will be made based on the results of verification activities and analysis of all information received,” the agency said in a statement. Telegram.

Price below market

As previously reported in the Ministry of Industry and Trade, sugar sales volume at large chains decreased by about 30% during the week. A rapid consumer demand was recorded in late February – early March, now demand is stabilizing. “Sales were down 29% compared to the previous week, despite supporting shipment volumes across the network from all the largest retailers,” the department said.

At the same time, the price of sugar in large retailers is below the market price. According to Rosstat, the current retail price is 78 rubles. per kilogram of sugar. In federal networks, sugar is sold from 56 to 65 rubles. for 1 kg. “We are skeptical of the authorities’ regional initiatives on restrictions, including sugar. We believe that the food market is unified and this kind of thing should not be allowed. Nikita Kuznetsov, Head of the Internal Trade Development Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that the price should be regulated by the market. TASS).

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko emphasized that sugar and buckwheat stocks are sufficient to meet domestic demand, during a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. “As in 2020, I want to reassure our citizens that we are now fully self-sufficient in both sugar and buckwheat,” he noted, urging not to panic and destabilize the commodity distribution network.